A review...Devour-ed

I am an avid restaurant goer. And by avid I mean: when I can afford it. As such my restaurant eyes have always steered me and my stomach and usually my girlfriend when I can drag her along, to smaller, more interesting, one-off establishments. It is my luck and probably one of my main reasons for loving Victoria so much, that this city prides itself on its unique restaurant community. It was with this thought in mind that I headed down to Devour the other day. Of course I had heard all about it. I had read reviews and checked periodically on the menu (I love watching it change everyday). And finally the opportunity presented itself for me to sample the goods.

The restaurant is simple and thought out, with only a few tables but enough space to move around. There were cookbooks up on shelves that I could have spent hours leafing through and speedy service. The food was outstanding. Simple and yet different. It defined itself by its ingredients, local and ever changing. I had a childhood favourite (and one that I tend to judge rather sternly): the grilled cheese sandwich. It was filled with aged cheddar and caramelized onions, accompanied by a herby salad and just large enough that I didn’t want to roll out the door afterwards. It was tasty and filling fare that didn’t break my bank. To put it simply: in a town with so many eating choices, I’ll be back.

Spice is so nice

If you’re like me and a little bit intimidated by the world of spice then most ethnic foods are beyond your simple kitchen. However if you’re also like me and can’t afford the prices of most delicious eateries scattered around Victoria serving up mouth watering cultural delicacies, then it might be necessary to learn some basics. Today it shall be Indian food: The unbelievable Makhani Murghi or more simply known as Butter Chicken.

I LOVE butter chicken. I’ll love it in sickness and health through happy days and sad. The neat thing about butter chicken is it is actually made in two parts.

First off you need to cook Tandoori Chicken:

1 free range chicken, skinned and cut into 8 pieces (you could just buy the pieces already cut and skinned)
140ml natural plain yogurt
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp commercial tandoori spice mix (or an equal mix of ginger, cumin, paprika, coriander, salt, cayenne and turmeric)
½ tsp salt

Method:

• Mix together the yogurt, oil, spices and salt to form a smooth paste
• Add the chicken and coat well with the marinade, use your fingers to massage it in really well.
• Cover with cling film and allow to marinate for 2-4 hours, preferably in the fridge.
• Take the chicken out and give it a little shake to get rid of excess marinade, place it on a baking tray in a preheated 400°F oven and bake for approximately 20-25 mins.

This recipe can be continued on to the full Makhani Murghi (or butter chicken) or it can be served as is. If you are going to stop here I recommend adding in a little ginger, garlic and lemon juice to the marinade just to pump it up a notch.

To turn this dish into Butter Chicken:

1 recipe of tandoori chicken (see above)
4 tbsp tomato paste
1’’ piece of ginger, chopped fine
300ml cream
2 tsp garam masala
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp chili powder
Green chili (to taste)
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 bunch fresh Coriander
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp toasted cumin seeds
115g butter

Method:

• Mix the tomato paste with water to make 340ml
• Add the ginger, cream, garam masala, salt, sugar, chili, cayenne pepper, coriander, lemon juice and cumin to the tomato paste mix, and incorporate well.
• Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the mixture.
• Bring to a boil and thicken.
• Place the chicken pieces in a roasting tray and pour over the sauce and cook in a preheated 350°F for 45 minutes.

Serve with rice and some fresh naan bread then sit back and enjoy this little vacation from your wintry days in Victoria :)

Soup vs. Sickness

With everyone and their dog getting sick in Victoria this week and the weather being gross, I have decided its that time of year: brush off the recipe box and prepare for some major veggie vitamins to stave off sickness…..SOUP’S ON!

First up is a basic staple of many a kitchen, Carrot and Ginger. When you have got a stuffed up nose though, pump up the ginger and garlic. People may not want to be around you but damn does this free up a stuffed up nose.

Carrot and Ginger Soup

2 tbsp oil
600g carrots, peeled and sliced
100g celery, diced
100g onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
675ml vegetable or chicken stock
75g ginger, grated and juice reserved
3 tbsp soy sauce
350ml orange juice

Method:

• Sweat the onions and celery in the oil for ten minutes. Do not let the vegetables brown as this will affect the color of the finished product.
• Add in the garlic and carrots and sweat for a further 10 minutes.
• Add the stock, grated ginger, soy sauce and orange juice and simmer for 20 more minutes.
• Purée soup, adding it back into the pan.
• Season with the ginger juice, salt and pepper.

The next soup is my ultimate favorite and something a little unique. Spiced Parsnip. Okay so the average person is probably going to read that and say ugghhhh parsnip? But don’t knock it till you’ve tried it folks! The spice is a curry and it will keep you warm all day.

Spiced Parsnip Soup

1lb Parsnips, peeled and cut into 1” chunks
55g Butter
1 Medium onion, finely diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tsp mild curry powder
1200ml vegetable or chicken stock
140ml cream

Method:

• In a soup pot, melt the butter over medium high and add the parsnips, onion and garlic, sweating gently for about 10 minutes.
• Add the curry powder and stir for another minute.
• Add the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the parsnips are very tender. Check by lifting out a big chunk of parsnip and sliding a fork into it. No resistance.
• Puree the soup in a blender, add the cream and season to taste. If the parsnips are young they might need a little extra curry to really kick up the flavor.

Good luck with the sickness my friends!

MEAT. Do I have your attention?

I love a good salad or a veggie quiche. Good potato dishes are my everyday staple. Leeks are one of my favorite eats. One, ONE of my favorites. But my main favorites will always be the proteins. Beef, Pork, chicken, lamb, bison. The legs, racks, thighs, ribs, chops, roasts, butts, breasts, shoulders. I could go on. I have recipes upon recipes of all the different ways of cooking them and flavoring them but so does every one else. So I will leave those alone and instead hit a more difficult topic:

Lets talk sourcing. I admit I cave in sometimes in a hurry and enter the plastic vacuum packed wilderness that is the supermarket in search of meat but for the most part I buy proteins from two places in Victoria.
#1 - Market on Yates. There is something refreshing about meat kept on display and carefully regulated. When it is time to return to my house for cooking they wrap it up as it should be in butcher’s paper and stickered shut. The people know what they are serving and where it came from and seem passionate about what they sell. For my reader’s in other cities: try tracking down a private (somewhat high end) grocery store in your city. Even if you only shop there for meat and buy everything else at a cheaper place, you wont regret it!
#2 - Island Meat and Seafood in Cook Street Village. A butcher shop may seem like an obvious place to go for meat and chicken but with the falling numbers of shops around the country and the ‘art’ of butchering disappearing, finding one you can trust is a rarity. Spend some time talking to your local butcher and you can usually tell how passionate he is about his craft and whether or not he chooses local/hormone free products to sell.

In my opinion the easiest and simplest way of cooking it is usually the best. BBQed, pan roasted, broiled, roasted, etc and use a good thermometer to cook it just how you want it. I leave the cooking up to you and instead provide you with one of my favorite sauces to serve with good pork or beef. Sauce is an intricate affair with time and effort going into the sauce to create something special. This recipe is actually quite simple and comes together relatively easily, making it my go to favorite.

Mushroom and Wine Sauce
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients:
½ pound mushrooms (use any mushroom you like but for this sauce the simple brown button mushrooms will work well), sliced and the typical mushroom shape preserved as well as possible
4 small carrots, small dice
4 ribs of celery, small dice
2 small onions, small dice
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1-2 tsp chopped rosemary
2 tbsp tomato paste
200ml red wine
500 ml chicken stock

Method:
- In a large saucepan, brown the sliced mushrooms in a little bit of butter and oil until cooked.
- Empty out the mushrooms into a small bowl, add some more oil to the pan and then add in the carrots, celery and onion.
- cook the veg till golden brown with a little bit of salt to help sweat the onion.
- Add in the tomato paste and garlic and cook for a few minutes trying hard not to burn either ingredient
- Add in the wine, stock and herbs and deglaze the pan.
- Simmer lightly for about 20 mins or until it has reduced by half.
- Strain the sauce into another saucepan, getting rid of all the vegetables.
- Keep reducing the sauce until it is the flavor and strength you want it.
- Add back in the mushrooms and simmer for a few minutes to warm them back up and then it is good to go.

Sometimes I’ve been known to freeze this sauce so I don’t have to make it when I really want some eats. Try storing leftover meat in the sauce in the fridge and then the next day chopping it all up and mixing in the sauce for an unbelievable sandwich filler.

The weekend and reader's support

This weekend was a busy one, filled with visits from family, nights out on the town and of course cooking! Tomorrow morning I will be writing to tell you all about it (starting with a delicious Mushroom and Wine Sauce I did and a little tutorial on finding some good meat!). In the mean time I would like to thank my readers and followers for their emails and facebook messages. I’ve received emails from Toronto, California and Vancouver and support has been fantastic. Please leave comments here on the blog and I will be happy to answer any questions or requests you may have. I get a weird excitement when I open up my computer and find a little note from someone on the hunt for garlic spears or a couple from Toronto who tried out a new restaurant, so please keep them coming!

This week I will be writing about some of my favorite culinary destinations in Victoria and the recipes they have inspired in my home kitchen. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I enjoy testing the recipes and recording my results :)

Farmer's Markets, Tomatoes and That Summer Feeling

One of my favorite summer activities is the farmer’s market. Rows of vegetables, homemade pastries and products made with love by good people. Victoria may be blessed by many of these Saturday institutions but for the working stiff like me, I am very rarely blessed with a Saturday off. So I was super excited when I discovered a mid week market happening at Mayfair mall! As I currently work in the mall it was but a short walk on my break and there I was, wandering among the booths and escaping (even for just 15 minutes) from the busy city.

One of the things that always stands out for me at the markets and screams summer are tomatoes. I’ve attached my favorite fresh summer tomato recipe: Bruschetta. Use a recipe like this to try out all those funky tomatoes on display: the rippled heirloom, the green and yellow cherries or even the flavorful purple tomatoes I recently discovered at my market. Some recipes call for cooked or slow roasted tomatoes but I want to taste that lush, just from the vine flavor.

Fresh Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients:
½ loaf of soft baguette, sliced (if I am looking for something more substantial than a snack I use sourdough)
2 cloves of garlic, sliced in half
Roughly 2 cups Tomato, diced (if using small cherry tomatoes just quarter dice them)
3 tablespoons fresh basil chiffonade (fancy word meaning cut into small strips)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method:
- Lightly salt the diced tomato and place in a colander for a few minutes, this will concentrate the flavors and remove some of the water from the veg.
- Toast the baguette/loaf slices to a nice golden brown and when it is still warm rub down with the sliced edge of the garlic.
- In a bowl, combine tomatoes, basil, half the olive oil and a few cranks of pepper and let merry for a few minutes.
- Spread the tomato mix onto the bread and serve with a little drizzle of the olive oil and a nice glass of white wine on the patio : )

A quick trip with some delicious results!

Last month I grabbed my lady and off we went to Seattle, the glorious green city! It was a great romantic getaway but ohhhh the food! I had forgotten exactly how big and extensive pike place market really was! Booths covered in fish from all over the world, vegetable carts with every kind of produce, unique products like jams and jellies, honey, baking, kitchen tools, cheese, chocolate and other delicacies. My mind reeled! With the absence of a kitchen in our hotel room to experiment with my findings, I took a culinary tour and loaded my bags with produce and kitchen stuff to haul back to Canada.

The culinary tour was outstanding, taking us behind the scenes and booths of the market, throwing in history and of course lots of samples. We saw the famous flying fish, sampled fresh smoked salmon and cherries picked only a few miles away. There was fresh cheese curds from Beekers and crab cakes cooked in the famous Iron Chef Tom Douglas’ restaurant Etta’s. All in all a real treat!

As the tour went on I was on the lookout for things to take back home. I got bunches of garlic spears (First of the season, garlic spears are picked off the head of elephant garlic, a breed common in this part of the world. They are delicious steamed with butter or a quick sauté. They taste a bit like asparagus with some artichoke and garlic thrown in. Eaten raw they are extremely garlicky!), I picked up a fresh bag of lime cilantro linguine and even a little jar of green bell pepper jelly. I bought a new paring knife to add to my collection and my greatest find: spices. Oh the spices! In a little store right near the entrance to the market I found hundreds of spices! Spices from around the world. Some I had heard of spoken in cook books and magazines and some were completely new to me. I picked bag after bag of them until my carry on luggage smelled like a market in the middle east and the whole way home I stirred up the possibilities! Nothing like a little travel to create a little inspiration in the home kitchen!

Enjoy this quick pasta recipe using some of my market finds: Lime-Cilantro Linguine with leek and garlic spear béchamel.

Serves 2
Ingredients:
Bechamel
1 large leek, cleaned and chopped into ½” dice, blanched and refreshed in cold water
10 garlic spears, heads removed and chopped into ½” dice
½ tsp Garlic Powder
2 tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
3 cups milk
Pasta
½ pound of linguine (in this case I used a lime-cilantro linguine but if flavored pasta isn’t available regular pasta works a treat, if y6u want the same flavor combo try adding chopped cilantro and a small amount of lime juice to your béchamel)
3 tbsp grated parmesan

Method:
- Start by heating the olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet.
- Add in your leeks and garlic spears and saute for about 3-4 minutes until the leeks begin to soften.
- Sprinkle the veg with the garlic powder and saute for a further 3 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and place to the side as you ready two saucepans.
- Into one saucepan add the rest of the butter and melt over a medium high heat, into the second add the milk and bring to just below a boil.
- As soon as the butter is fully melted and bubbling, sprinkle in the flour and stir, making a roux.
- When the roux is smooth and slightly tan in color (which may take a few minutes), slowly add in the warm milk in batches, stirring as you go. The milk will thicken in a few minutes time and you have your béchamel!
- Drop your pasta into a big pot of salted, boiling water and cook as per the package instructions.
- Lower the heat on your béchamel and add to it all your lovely cooked leeks and garlic spears.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain in a colander (reserving some of the cooking water) and add back to the pot.
- Stir in an appropriate amount of your béchamel. If the sauce is too thick, loosen with some of the pasta water.
- Top off with parmesan and serve immediately! Perhaps with a copy of sleepless in seattle?

A return to food blogs!

Hey everybody! After an unfortunately long hiatus I am back in blogging mode! I took a break to move and set up a new life in the city. I decided to start writing in this media again because of recent discussions with friends and coworkers on the state of food in our corner of the world. I’ll admit I’m blessed: I live in Victoria, BC, Canada. I have so many options about what to eat and where it comes from. I confess even with restaurant experience and cookery school, I am sometimes over whelmed by the options! I spent the better part of last winter designing my first cookbook detailing the experiences I enjoyed in Europe attending cookery school and some of the recipes I acquired there but it never seems to be enough! New foods are popping up and food trends are continually evolving and I find myself with more recipes then time to put them into new cookbooks. So I shall blog again!

It is here that I will share tips, tricks, recipes, market options and seasonal celebrations. From the joys of alternative cuts of meat to the glory of the first sprouts of asparagus, I will record my culinary journeys. It is my hope that these entries will show the newly curious to the adventuresome veterans of food experimentation, something new and interesting. I hope you enjoy and respond in any way you see fit, that way I can learn something too!