Notes On A Meal

Well I’m about to get into my Christmas cooking mode (read: red wine opened and music cranked).  For me it is Polish delights on the 24th and tukey on the 25th.  The perogi assembly-line usually kicks into highgear around 8pm on the 23rd and takes us well into the early hours of the next morning, rolling the dough, mashing the potatoes, frying the mushrooms.  We always have a big pot of compote on the stove (glogi, to my Finnish friends) that make the house smell amazing.  Its our potpori. 

Let the games begin………

I wish everyone a great holiday season with family and friends and food and wine.

WCT

Oh goodness it must be Christmas! 

Here’s what i don’t understand though……Why is it that the restaurant feels more busy than usual??? Our numbers are the same at November, 100+ covers at lunch and nearing 200 for dinner.  Sales are just a touch higher but mostly due to more booze being sold.  I don’t get it?  We are the type of place that is full all day/everyday ( which is great) so its not like we can fit anymore bodies in here but this week the lunches have been nutty.  Servers are flying around the floor freaking out, the kitchen is extra moody and yet at the end of the day all is the same as the month before. 

Perhaps its just that time of year when we are pre-programed to feel like it is supposed to be busier than normal and so we start running faster than we need to? 

As i write this i don’t really have the answer but it was on my mind as i sit here in my office overlooking the madness that is the dinning room at 1:52 on a Friday afternoon.

peace out and happy holidays

WCT

While we in Canada slowly come to terms with the need for local, sustainable agricultural practices, there are still many many issues that need to be addressed when it comes to ethical food production.  Some frightening and often disturbing issues lie just under the surface.  Knowledge and exposure are critical tools to promoting change.

If you know of any resources to further the understanding of ethical food practices, please drop us a line.

Resource 1

Take an hour and a half to watch The Cove. A documentary filmed in Taiji, Japan about illegal dolphin hunting.  It is dark and disturbing.  However, it is aimed not at affronting the viewer, but instead bringin awareness to a horrible practice that has remained hidden from the public eye.  To get this documentary made, much of the footage was shot illegally and without formal sanction from any officials in Taiji.

From the Globe and Mail:

There are five minutes in this documentary that ought to be mandatory viewing. The entire 90 minutes is utterly compelling, but the five alone are worth the price of admission.

In those five minutes, using special camouflage, night-vision and underwater cameras, a team of filmmakers and environmental activists covertly film the brutal slaughter of dozens of dolphins.

From Now magazine:

The Cove is a devastating, horrific indictment of cultural corruption, political cynicism and inhuman cruelty…

These are two of the most important words a chef will ever need to know.  They may all seem like the same thing at a first glance, and although they do have things in common they also have acute differences.  Continue reading “Passion and drive”

Love this recipe. It’s super simple and super yummy. A close friend of mine showed it to me and I’ve been using it ever since. It takes a wee bit of time but the results are drop dead yummy. Another plus is it’s made in a single pot… Easy peasy.

From start to finish this can be made in about hour. The active time required is about 30 min.

What you need:
1 cup white wine
4 cups of chicken stock – see note at the end of recipe
About two tble of sour cream
A carrot
A large onion. White onions are  little less in your face then cooking onions and hold their texture well when cooked.
A rib of celery
Any other veggies you would like to add
1-2 lbs of dark chicken meat.
2 tbls of olive oil or sauteing
2 tbls of cold butter
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper for seasoning
About a cup of flour
1/2 a beaten egg
1/4 of buttermilk

To start:
The chicken.
Buy 1 -2 lbs of  dark chicken meat. You can cook the snot out of dark meat and it will not toughen up as much as breast meat. It also has more flavour. You want skin off and boneless.  You can do this yourself or buy it prefab. I generally use about a pound or so.Clean the chicken and Cut it up into bite size chunks.

The veggies.
In my minds eye/mouth, I can see pretty much any veg working in this recipe, but I like to keep it simple.  Onions, carrots and cellery are where it’s at.  You can throw in potaotes if you feel like skipping the dumplings or really dig lots of starchy goodness in your stew. Corn, peas, beans, mushrooms  and  broccoli are all fair game. Rough chop your veggies, again aiming for solid  bite sized morsels.

In a large heavy bottomed, deep pan or large heavy bottomed pot, heat 1tbls of olive oil and 1/2 tbls of  butter over medium/high heat. Brown chicken morsels. Remove and reserve. Use a small portion of the white wine to deglazw the pan with a wooden spoon.   Add more oil and butter if needed and sweat veggies until soft.  Add remaing wine, chicken, herbs and stock. At this point you want to have a pan full of chicken and veggies just covered by stock and wine. Bring to a boil and then reduce temperature to a gentle simmer with the lid off.

In a mixing bowl gently incorporate buttermilk and egg into the flour. Do not overwork the mixture. Mix until the ingredients are incorporated. The consistency  should be wet and sticky but not runny.
It should be able to hold it’s shape on it’s own but fairly sticky to your fingers. Fold in the chopped Rosemary and season with salt and pepper.  Using two small spoons make bite sized dumplings and nestle them into the gently simmering stew.For extra fluffy dumplings add a pinch of baking powder.

Your stew is ready when the dumplings are cooked through. Before serving stir in a teaspoon of cold butter chunks and season with salt and pepper to taste. Finally, quickly stir in the sour cream.

I usually serve this in a big bowl with few good sized slices of crusty bread for.

A note on stock.
Homemade is say better then prefab, it can be made in about 45 mins and keeps well in the freezer. More importantly, it will reduce with pleasurable results – prefab will not. If you must use prefab, spend the money on the most natural looking stock you can find. Also avoid stocks with high sodium, look for sodium reduced.