Caramelized hazelnuts for my "Sweet Winter Slaw"

This past weekend, we held our 3rd potluck for our book club.  This time we selected the cookbook  – Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes From London’s Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi.

Quinoa salad with lime prepared by Angela

I received a copy of this cookbook for my birthday last year and it has easily become one of my go-to cookbooks.  I’ve made a number of dishes out of it and when company is coming it is the first cookbook I pull off my shelves to plan with.  The quality the recipes produce are consistently delicious and pretty.

The day of the potluck all the dishes were amazing.  While there were minor complaints about the clarity of the cookbook there were no disasters and very few people needed to adjust their recipes.  My friend Sarah who hosted, set up her dining room so it was like a big buffet table and her home was a welcoming place to share a meal.  The group not only talked about food, but also about family, travel, and summer plans.  We also discussed the new gourmet doughnut shop, Suzy Q, that just opened in Hintonburg.  The feeling of community is one of the great things about being together and sharing a meal like this.

How did the cookbook fare in our conversation?  Overall, everyone seemed to like this cookbook.  Some people even mentioned buying a copy if they didn’t already have one.   Below I break down some of my likes and dislikes:

Stuffed peppers prepared by Anna (from Ottolenghi's recipes on the Guardian's website)

What I liked about this cookbook:

• Great flavour combinations – if I was cooking for someone who was not a vegetarian I could use pretty much any recipe in this cookbook to impress them.  Also, as someone who has been cooking vegetarian for many years I’ve seen a lot of standard flavour combinations:  white beans and kale, mozzarella and tomato, etc).  Ottolenghi adds something strange to these standard flavours and the recipes end up working in his favour.
• Home-cooked versions of the recipes actually look like the photos in the cookbook!
• The recipes are organized by vegetable which is really handy if you do your shopping at a farmers market and pick up random beautiful vegetables intending to improve with them!

Roasted cauliflower gigli with pine nuts and currants prepared by Katrina

What I disliked:

• This cookbook is written for someone who really knows their way around a kitchen.  While the instructions are well written they could be a little more detailed. A novice cook might become overwhelmed or worse yet start a kitchen fire with Ottolenghi’s instructions on how to caramelize.  Ottolenghi admits in one of his headnotes that he forgot an important step in one of his recipes that appeared in the Guardian. He forgot to write that you need to stab an eggplant with a fork before roasting it to let the steam out. He received many complaints from people who had eggplants explode in their oven!  That being said, with the recipes I’ve made so far out of the cookbook I’ve been okay.
• My friend, Angela said this cookbook should be called “Plenty of Time” because the recipes take a long time to prepare.  Also, the recipes do not include an estimated time to prepare which is pretty standard in a lot of cookbooks now.  It’s true without a sous-chef the recipes will take some time to prepare but it just means I wouldn’t use this cookbook for a weeknight.
• Many of the recipes will not make a whole meal and there are not a lot of menu suggestions.  So, you need plan your menu wisely.

Highly recommended to buy!

Surprise tatin prepared by Cara

Title: Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes From London’s Ottolenghi

Authors: Yotam Ottolenghi

Publisher: Chronicle Books; Reprint edition (Mar 9 2011)

ISBN: 9781452101248

1855 is easily one of my favourite local beers.  I usually don’t drink dark beer but the 1855 is more amber than dark and I find it very easy to drink and refreshing.  It pairs well with most foods because the taste is not overly complex and the after-taste is slightly bitter but pleasant.  I paired my pint with the vegetarian chilli and some sweet music from the jukebox.  A great meal, a nice beer and some good conversation with friends was the perfect way to spend the early evening waiting out the snow-storm.

Originally, when my friends first booked their trip to Ottawa we had planned to spend one day skating on the canal.  Since the weather didn’t work out in our favour we needed something to do on Saturday.  Friday we had spent some time at the National Gallery and we wanted to do something else inside that was not a museum.  As we were planning all the possibilities I happened on the Kichesippi website.  Kichesippi offers tours on Saturdays – and as an added bonus for someone who does not have a car – it is within walking/busing distance from the Wellington West area!

Our tour guide was awesome – she was super friendly and answered all my random questions about mashing, fermentation, and carbonating beer.

Cooler where they store the delicious kegs of beer

Beer is constantly brewing here – it only takes 15 days to condition/age a batch of the Natural Blonde but the demand for this brew is growing all the time.  This micro-brewery will need to get some bigger digs soon enough!

Where they add the yeast and age/condition the beer

It was really nice to hear what a strong emphasis Kichesippi places on connecting with the local community.  Local farmers feed the leftover grains to cows, local musicians cook with it, and they always seem to be available at fun music events here in the City.

One exciting thing we learned during the tour is that Kichesippi will be selling their Natural blonde pale ale in 6 packs at local LCBOs (see details here)!

(Also as a side note if you have a chance go see the clock piece at the national Gallery – it is mesmerizing!)

Cookies

Last weekend I went to a small and intimate cookie exchange hosted by my friend and fellow blogger Cara of the Polka Dot Apron.  For my contribution I made:  Snowball cookies and Vegan chocolate covered cookie dough.  I liked both but not as much as the other cookies at the exchange. While the snowball cookies were tasty I think they would have benefited from some coconut added to the mix.  And, the chocolate covered cookie dough was overly rich for my taste.  But that being said, I think I will make them again  – maybe with peanut butter cookie dough next time.   As a side note,  these recipes called for coconut oil.  I saw some at Herb and Spice the week before but refused to pay the price they were charging.  When I settled on making these cookies I changed my mind and decided to suck it up. But when I returned to Herb and Spice they were sold out!  Luckily for me, the Natural Food Pantry in Westboro had some.  Even more lucky for me it was on sale!  Long story short:  if you are looking for coconut oil, the natural food pantry is the place to go.

Photo by Isox4 on flickr

It seems like everyone in my office is sick this week.  While many of my co-workers seem to be suffering from flu-like symptoms I have a nasty cold.  I hate being sick.  Yes, it gives me an opportunity to re-watch Veronica Mars and sleep an extraordinary amount, but it also comes with a constant dripping nose, aches, and tiredness that are not pleasant.  So, when I am sick I make this juice, which has become my go-to natural remedy that I pair with lots of dark leafy greens.  I love this recipe because it makes me feel better every time but I have to warn you that it is not a recipe that you make friends with – it contains one clove of raw pressed garlic.  For some reason, Mike is never sick when I am sick and he groans whenever I make this juice.  I guess when your nose is not plugged up the smell of raw garlic is pretty strong.

This recipe is adapted from Rebar’s liver quiver juice recipe.  And as a super plus, it is easy to make when you have no energy.

• 1 grapefruit
• 1 lemon
• 1-3 oranges (or orange juice) *to taste
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Juice the grapefruit, lemon and oranges.  Strain out the pulp (or leave it in) and combine the juices in a glass.  Crush one clove of garlic in a garlic press and then combine with the juice.  Add a pinch of cayenne pepper.

It is best to drink this fast in big gulps then get back to the couch.  That first season of Veronica Mars is not going to re-watch itself.

Then I am going to make one of my favourite soups with a twist – Green soup with ginger!  This is a recipe from Love Soup.  A go-to cookbook in January especially after the week we have experienced here in Ottawa. Today, it is -10 and it feels warm!   Anna Thomas explains her process for making the soup here.

Also, if you are looking for something to do tomorrow night this looks interesting. The Ottawa Public Library (Main branch) is hosting the authors of All the Dirt: Reflections on Organic Farming. They are talking about the book and their experiences farming organically in BC.  Check out their company website and if you have time check them out at OPL.

A couple of notes if you decide to try this recipe. The recipe calls for black beluga lentils because that’s what I had on hand to make this but you could easily substitute du puy lentils (french green).  The mushroom gravy is not necessary – I often make this dish without but sometimes you just want some extra fat to up the comfort factor.  You need a large rectangle glass baking dish to make this in.

Veggie Shepherd’s pie (Vegan version)

1/2 c wild rice

1 1/2 c black beluga lentils

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

1 carrot

3 lbs. potatoes (about 6-7 large potatoes)

1 lbs. mushrooms (button, cremini)

1/4 c dried porcini mushrooms (about 6 or 7 dried)

1 tbsp. of olive oil

fresh or dried thyme to taste

1/2 c frozen peas

½ c soy milk* optional — you can also use the cooking water

1 tbsp. vegan margarine (I use Earth balance brand)

1/2 package of mushroom gravy (vegan)

Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

1. Make your wild rice.  Rinse the rice and then stir it into a cup and a half of boiling water.  Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let soak in the same water, covered for 1 hour.  Drain.  Stir rice into 1 1/2 c of fresh boiling water.  Let simmer for 25-35 minutes.  Drain.  While making the rice – prepare the other parts of the shepherd’s pie.
2. Check your lentils for stones and rinse the dust off them.
3. Put them in pot with 3.5 cups of cold fresh water.  Cover and bring the water to a boil.
4. While waiting for the water to boil prepare your aromatics.  Quarter the onion.  Finely chop the carrots and peel the garlic cloves.  Once the water has boiled, add these to the lentils, plus the bay leaves and turn the heat to simmer.  Cook for around 25 minutes.  You want your lentils to be firm and not mushy.
5. As the lentils cook prepare the potatoes.  Basically if you already know how to mash potatoes this step will be very easy for you. Peel the potatoes.  (Note:  if you have organic potatoes no need to peel them – I love the rustic look of the potato skins in a mash.)  Chop the potatoes into small pieces roughly the same size.   In a large pot add enough cold water to cover the potatoes and bring to a boil (turn down to a simmer once they have reached a boiling point).
6. As this point your lentils should be finished.  Drain, and if you want you can reserve the liquid to use for stock at some future date.  Remove the onion, garlic and bay leaves.  Don’t worry if you can’t remove all the onion – some small pieces in the lentils won’t hurt.  Season with some freshly ground pepper.
7. If your potatoes are ready drain the boiling water and leave them in their cooking pot until you are ready to mash them.
8. Prepare your mushrooms.  Soak your dried mushrooms in warm water as directed.  Slice the button mushrooms and leave some pieces in quarters.  Once the dried mushrooms are soaked – slice into bite sized pieces.  Warm the oil in a frying pan and add all the mushrooms – you want to cook them just until they lose some of their juices.
9. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.
10. Now prep your base.   Add the lentils, mushrooms, frozen peas and wild rice.  Mix together.
11. Drain the water from your potatoes if you have not already done so.  Mash them with the soy milk and margarine.
12. Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the base mixture.
13. Cook for 20 minutes in your pre-heated oven. While it is cooking prepare your mushroom gravy if using.
14. Remove from oven and spread mushroom gravy over the top.

Serve with: rapini with garlic and chili peppers.

Ottawa magazine has put together a mini food-festival called “WinterBites!”  A number of Ottawa area restaurants are offering set dinner menus for $40 or try a luch menu for $20!  Check out menus here.  Runs until the 28th of January.

Winterlude does not officially start until February but there are some food and drink related events near the end of this month.

Mill Street Pub should be opening at the end of this month.  According to their Facebook page – they just finished brewing their first batch of beer here in Ottawa!

Festibière d’hiver/Winter beerfest — Mike and I rarely cross the river into Quebec but for a festival like this I think we should make an exception.  I heard great things about the summer festival.  More information on Facebook.

Also — January is a good time to buy your tickets to the Celebrity chef cook-off in March.

Raspberry cream cheese muffins

This past weekend, we held our second potluck for our book club.  For these potlucks a group of us get together and cook various recipes out of a pre-selected cookbook.  This time we selected, Quinoa 365 by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming.

Stuffed mushrooms prepared by Carli

This book seemed to be everywhere this past year. Costco was selling it, random co-workers recommended it to me and tonnes of blogs reviewed it.  As we discussed at the potluck, these authors published this book at the right time and place – it seems they tapped into something that was brewing under the surface for a while now.  The book was so popular at the library I was afraid that we wouldn’t all have a chance to look at the cookbook before the potluck (luckily the library ordered an extra 30 copies or so).  At the potluck we tried to decide why this would be so popular – because many recipes are gluten-free?  Because eating whole grains has suddenly becoming trendy?  Or maybe it’s the idea that cooking healthy is as simple as including one more ingredient in your regular food?  We  settled on this last idea – many of the recipes ask you to add a couple of tablespoons of quinoa instead of building a whole meal around it.  Which actually worked for our potluck.  Beforehand I worried we would be eating quinoa in every dish and maybe that would get a bit boring.  But actually, this potluck was more a meal than an all-you can eat buffet – there were appetizers, a soup, entrees and then desserts.  And, all of the dishes were delicious.  So if you are looking to add more quinoa to your diet, pick up this book.

Quinoa tabbouleh by Sarah

Vegan "Cheeseball" cooked by Brigitte

What I liked about this cookbook:

• This is the type of book that I could give to my mom with confidence that she would use it. Besides the occasional recipe that asks for quinoa flour, most of the recipes call for readily available ingredients and the recipes are easy to cook for people who are used to “meat and potato” meals.
• The recipes worked. They did not require a lot tweaking to get the tastes right – the testers did a great job with this cookbook!

What I disliked:

• As a vegetarian I already tend to eat a lot of quinoa so I was hoping for inventive ways to incorporate more of this food into my diet.  There are some great recipes in this book but nothing earth shattering in terms of innovation.
• A lot of the dishes called for low-fat products (sour cream, cheese, etc.) — great if you are trying to be healthy but most of time I would rather eat full fat to get a better flavour.

Stuffed shells prepared by Julie

Tasty tuna casserole prepared by Angela

Recommended to borrow from your library or to purchase if you are looking to incorporate more quinoa into your diet.

Title: Quinoa 365 : the everyday superfood

Authors: Patricia Green & Carolyn Hemming

Publisher: Whitecap, c2010.

ISBN: 9781552859940

Carmel Apple Cheesecake prepared by Chris