I intend to publish a recipe and small accompanying story and photo once a week. However since I'm working on my first recipe post (and without giving away what it is, it requires multiple days of preparation) I will take this opportunity to provide my gastronomic year in review, and add a photo or two.
Best vacation -
There's been so rewarding culinary adventures outside Calgary this year, but nothing beats visiting both Paris and Morocco in the same trip. You'll learn quickly how much I LOVE butter, so French cooking definitely agrees with me. It's true that French food is simple, but far from boring. Photo above is the result of my stroll through the famed Rue Mouffetard, and the resulting ingredients for mushroom loaf (including morelles!). Lauren and I were also pleasantly surprised to find the French imperial footprint was left on Morocco's cuisine, providing a best of both worlds option for dining in the spice capital of the world (coffee and Parisian-style pastries for breakfast every day, and vegetarian tagine, couscous, hummus, and fresh vegetable salads for dinner, all heavily flavoured with cumin).
Best homecooked meal -
For my birthday I made my family (big fans of the summer dining al fresco) a veggie BBQ feast: stuffed red peppers, served with breaded tomatoes with sour cream and chives and BBQed asparagus. Complimented by red wine.
Most memorable meal -
Dec 31, 2009 I welcomed the start of my New Years celebration at Pok Pok, a renowned Thai-inspired restaurant in Portland, OR. The restaurant is in an older house in the Hawthorne-Division district of Portland, and is committed to serving really good food made fresh with local ingredients. I had their version of Som Tam (spicy papaya salad) to start, and the green curried half-crab as a main. Liquid dessert off the excellent cocktail menu is highly recommended.
Best new wine discovery -
I'm generally more a red wine person than white wine, and at that I usually prefer a heartier white like a Viogner over Chardonnay. However my wine instructor brought the most delicious Chardonnay to class recently from Mount Eden vineyards (California). This bold wine can stand it's own against a roast chicken or heavily seasoned fish, and has the most buttery finish I've ever tasted. Highly recommended.
So, can I request future recipes that are ones I can do on a work night??? I need more of those - as much as Saturday-morning-quiches would also be awesome. ;) And I promise to try some and make them and tell you whether or not I manage to screw them up!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I will be posting recipes that involve a range of time/effort. First one to be posted has a quicky and easy option, and a do-it-yourself option.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, expect a quiche recipe up shortly. And that you totally can do on a worknight!
Will you be posting recipes on how to cook when you don't have cookware? I currently only have a stainless steel bowl, a sharp tooth brush, and bedsheets. Do you think I would be able to make something delicious so my roommate isn't mad at me all the time and makes me do other non cooking things, he's Nigerian, but he likes all kinds of ethnic delicacies
ReplyDelete