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Whew! Survived a long, busy week! Technically, since I’m writing this on Sunday night, we’re already into a new week but I had to work this weekend so it feels as though the week is just over. It included:
- a trip to Barrie on Tuesday evening to speak to the Community Food Advisors about eggs,
- a display and stage presentation about eggs at the WOW Seminar in Elora on Wednesday evening,
- setting up the Egg Farmers of Ontario‘s (EFO) display at the Good Food Festival in Toronto on Thursday (and into Thursday evening!), then staffing the display where we prepared Pizza Frittata for the crowds (and I do mean crowds!!) to sample throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday…..and being a presenter at the Ask a Professional Stage organized by the Ontario Home Economics Association (specifically Professional Home Economists Mairlyn Smith and Barb Holland).
I’ve been attending the Good Food Festival for many years – the past 13 years as an exhibitor, and prior to that for a couple years as a consumer. It’s a great place to sample new and interesting foods, pick up some great recipes and bargains, and learn a few things about food and nutrition by watching cooking demonstrations and talking to the exhibitors. It’s a well attended event. (Translation: it’s a feeding frenzy with huge crowds and line-ups for samples!)
I’m always intrigued that people will stand in line (usually quite patiently) for a small morsel of food. Often, those in line have no idea what they’re lining up for, and many take the sample and walk away with no clue whose booth they were just at and what they are sampling. Thankfully, there are many others who are interested in more than just the bite of food and they happily pick up recipes and even have a question or comment about the food (in our case, eggs).
At the EFO booth, we were sampling Pizza Frittata. The recipe is on a card to which is stapled a packet of seasonings used to make the Frittata. The recipe was a hit! Here it is……
There’s good news about eggs – again!
If you’ve been concerned that eating eggs will raise your blood cholesterol levels, think again. Recent studies – including one from Harvard Medical School that followed 21,000 physicians for 20 years – have concluded that eating an egg a day is OK.
Read what dietitian and author Leslie Beck had to say about eggs in her nutrition segment on CTV’s Canada AM this week. Or, watch the clip on Leslie’s website – www.lesliebeck.com
Eggs fit into a healthy diet, providing high quality protein and a multitude of vitamins and minerals, not to mention great taste and quick and easy meal solutions.
For more information about egg nutrition, visit these sites:
Prolific cookbook author Jean Pare and her Company’s Coming publishing company just keep churning out cookbooks! Since her early years as a caterer and the 1981 publication of her first cookbook – 150 Delicious Squares – Jean has sold over 26 million cookbooks. There are now about 60 cookbooks in her series. I must have about half of them in my personal cookbook library!
These days, the Edmonton (Alberta) publishing giant uses a test kitchen (known as the Recipe Factory) to help with recipe development and testing.
Jean has also published her autobiography (Jean Pare: An appetite for Life), a fascinating account of her life and how she created the Company’s Coming brand.
The following recipe is featured in one of the newest books in the series – Low-Fat Express. The cookbook contains over 140 healthy, tasty recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less.
You can find a list of all the cookbooks in the series, sample recipes from her books, and cooking tips on the Company’s Coming website – www.companyscoming.com. The cookbooks are widely available.
Thai Coconut Chicken
(Makes 4 servings)
1-1/4 cups (300 mL) prepared chicken broth
3 tablespoons (45 mL) lime juice
2 tablespoons (30 mL) soy sauce
1 tablespoon (15 mL) finely grated gingerroot
1 tablespoon (15 mL) grated lime zest
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 4 to 6 oz/113 to 170 g each)
1/4 cup (60 mL) packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons (30 mL) reduced-fat peanut butter
1 tablespoon (15 mL) sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup (125 mL) light coconut milk
2 teaspoons (10 mL) cornstarch
Combine broth, lime juice, soy sauce, gingerroot, lime zest, garlic and pepper in a medium frying pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Add chicken. Cook, covered, about 12 to 15 minutes, turning halfway through cooking, until chicken is no longer pink inside. Transfer chicken to a plate. Cover to keep warm.
Whisk brown sugar, peanut butter and chili sauce into broth mixture until smooth. Bring to a boil. Stir coconut milk into cornstarch in a small cup. Slowly add to broth mixture, stirring constantly with whisk, until boiling and slightly thickened. Serve with chicken.
Per Serving: 304 Calories, 7.6 g Fat (2.7 g Saturated Fat), 22 g Carbohydrate, 35 g Protein, 1 g Fibre
Recipe Source: Low-Fat Express by Jean Pare, Company’s Coming Publishing Limited, 2008
Although a slow cooker is not meant to be a seasonal small appliance, I tend to treat it so, hauling it out in fall and winter to cook the warm, filling comfort foods like soups and stews I’m not as inclined to eat in spring and summer. A silly habit, really, considering the slow cooker is also ideally suited to warm weather cooking as it can cook a delicious meal without increasing the temperature in the kitchen.
That said, as I perused cookbooks last fall ready to bring my slow cooker out of hibernation for the cool months ahead, a recipe for a lasagna-style dish caught my attention. It helped that I had all the necessary ingredients at the ready without needing to make a trip to the grocery store. Made with oven-ready (translation: no precooking required) lasagna noodles, the recipe went together quickly and the results were well worth the effort, limited as it was.
Since then I’ve also made my traditional lasagna recipe (ground beef in a tomato-based sauce layered with noodles and a mixture of ricotta or cottage cheese, eggs and parmesan cheese) in the slow cooker – also with great success.
Because of the moist heat of the slow cooker, there is very little drying out of the lasagna noodles compared to when the dish is cooked in the oven (translation: slow cooked lasagna is less chewy and minus the dried edges you usually get when cooked in the oven). If you prefer some crusted bits on your lasagna, you can get some of this in a slow cooker, but to a lesser degree. And, by the time this happens, the pasta may be too tender. But even if that’s your preferred style of lasagna, don’t not try slow cooking it. You may be pleasantly surprised at the result.
Everything tastes better drizzled
with liquid gold!
With the Maple Syrup Festival in Elmira this past weekend signaling the springtime flow of maple sap and production of maple syrup in Ontario, it’s time to enjoy the regional abundance of what many consider a quintessential Canadian food.
Maple syrup is a highly prized commodity throughout the world. With it produced right in our backyard, it would be a shame to take this “liquid gold” for granted.
If it’s been awhile since you enjoyed pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup named after someone’s pancake-loving/cooking relative!), pick up a bottle soon and reacquaint yourself with the golden goodness of this special treat. Drizzle it over pancakes, waffles, crepes, cooked vegetables, cake or ice cream, or use it to flavour a salad dressing, a barbecue or grilling sauce for meat or fish, or a dessert.
Keep in mind the darker the syrup (or the higher the grade number), the stronger flavoured the syrup will be. Medium and Amber syrups are better suited for cooking as they can better withstand heat while Light syrups are typically used to drizzle over pancakes and waffles.
For maple syrup recipes, information and a list of maple syrup festivals in Ontario, visit the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association’s website.
This make-ahead breakfast or brunch strata (heck, it would make a great supper too!) with it’s maple and apple topping is a sweet way to enjoy one of the first treats of spring.
Cinnamon Toast Strata with Maple Apple Topping
(Makes 6 servings)
If desired, substitute 4 cups (1 L) sliced bananas for apples. Reduce brown sugar to 2 tablespoons (30 mL). Omit raisins. Reduce cooking time of fruit to 1 minute.
Strata:
10 slices egg bread
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, softened
4 tablespoons (60 mL) sugar (divided)
1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cinnamon (divided)
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) milk
4 eggs
Topping:
2/3 cup (150 mL) maple syrup
1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice
1/4 cup (60 mL) packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons (30 mL) butter (optional)
5 tart apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/3 cup (75 mL) raisins
1 tablespoon (15 mL) cornstarch
1 tablespoon (15 mL) water
To make Strata:
Trim crusts from bread. In a small bowl, mix together butter, 3 tablespoons (45 mL) sugar and 1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) cinnamon. Spread on 5 of the bread slices; top with remaining slices. Cut diagonally into quarters to make triangles.
Arrange triangles, longest side down, overlapping and curving slightly, around edge of greased deep 10-inch (25 cm) pie plate. Arrange remaining triangles in a tight circle in centre. (Or arrange around edge of greased 11 x 7-inch/2 L) baking dish, curving slightly to fit; arrange remaining triangles in centre.)
Whisk milk with eggs until blended; pour evenly over triangles in dish. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon (15 mL) sugar with remaining 1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) cinnamon; sprinkle over triangles. (Strata can be prepared to this point, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 12 hours.) Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Baked, uncovered, in a preheated 350F (180C) oven until puffed and golden, about 45 minutes. Let stand on rack for 10 minutes.
To make Maple Apple Topping:
In skillet, whisk together maple syrup, orange juice and sugar; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add butter (if using). Boil for 1 minute.
Add apples and raisins; cover and cook, stirring once, until apples are tender, about 5 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in water; add to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve warm over strata.
Recipe Source: Canadian Living Cooks Step by Step by Daphna Rabinovitch, Telemedia Communications Inc., 1999
I enjoyed reading this article which appeared on freep.com yesterday.
If I have to label myself, I’d say I lean towards being a locavore – as much as is realistically possible. At least, I try to eat according to the seasons. I’d also have to consider myself a snap-and-eater!
How about you?
April 2, 2008
By Kathleen Purvis
Mcclatchy Newspapers, Detroit Free Press, United States
Are you a baggist? Or an omnibore?
It started with “carnivore” — someone who eats meat. Then we had “omnivore” — someone who eats from all food groups.
Next came “locavore” — someone who eats food grown or produced locally. “Locavore” ended up being named “Word of the Year” last year by the New Oxford American Dictionary.
Now it’s really taking off. I was on an eating trip with friends the other night when they announced they were “opportunivores.” They’ll eat anything when they get the chance.
That started the new food words spinning in my head. If you spend enough time in the food world — prowling for restaurants, poking around the food Web sites — you’ll see all kinds of tribes.
Let’s see, could they be …
Cultivores: These are members of the eating cults, people who lurch from one food fad to the next in search of the most obscure food.
Omnibores: People who endlessly brag about all the places where they’ve eaten, including neighborhoods, cities and very distant countries.
Snap-and-eaters: People who shoot pictures of their plates to post on blogs.
Baggists: Those who bring their own bags everywhere. (“Sorry I’m late — I got caught in line behind a baggist with $300 worth of frozen food.”)
Campovores: People who take gourmet meals on camp-outs.
Campyvores: People who embrace any food with retro appeal. Their logo would be a marshmallow Peep holding a pack of Teaberry gum.
Cardivores: People who hold up the takeout line at lunch while they shuffle through their wallet for their frequent-buyer card.
Gimmemores: People who have no standards for food other than portion size.
Foodfearists: Otherwise mature adults who are still avoiding things they didn’t like when they were children. “Don’t serve me anything green — I’m a foodfearist.”
Never-happytarians: People who pick apart every meal, particularly any meal in a restaurant that got a favorable review.
Martha maidens: People who make everything from scratch, right down to forging the metal for their own pots. (Avoid getting a gift from a Martha maiden. You have to make your own paper and ink for the thank-you card.)
A Childsian Slip: This is when someone shows off his or her knowledge of food but misuses the words. Named in honor of all the people who think the name of the late cookbook author was “Julia Childs.”
