A Diwali Feast

It was a happy coincidence that our Indian feast happened to fall on Diwali, the Hindu festival of light.

The timing was perfect on another front as well. We were wrapping up our year of cooking with MasterClass chefs, when we discovered that Madhur Jaffrey had joined their faculty. She is responsible for teaching millions of people the complexities of Indian cuisine. Here we had one more master chef to learn from and add to our Epitourist gallery of experts.

Jaffrey has demystified Indian food for western cooks through her cookbooks and television appearances for more than 40 years.  She brings a relaxed and informative style to her teaching.  She explained that although the term curry is a convenient shorthand, it carries the legacy of colonialism. The term curry isn't even Indian. Speakers traditionally call dishes by their specific names: kurma, dal, rogan josh, and so on. 

"What really“distinguishes Indian food is its magical use of spices. Some came from Egypt. Some came from the New World. But we use them like a painter uses colors."

As with the other MasterClass chefs, Jaffrey challenged us to travel a bit beyond our comfort zones. We had to venture beyond the supermarket shelves to track down some of the ingredients, but that was part of the fun! Little India, a specialty grocery and local spice house yielded fresh sources. 

In addition to exploring spices and new ingredients, we experimented with techniques to recreate Indian street food, roll out fresh chapati, prepare basmati, and cook lamb shami kebobs. 

Menu and recipes follow.

Menu
❧
Dani Puri Chat with Green Sauce and Tamarind Chutney
Moong Dal and Red Lentil
Butter Chicken with Plain Basmati
Chapati
Raita
Baked Lamb Shami Kebobs
Okra with Shallots
Cucumber and Tomato Salad

A rich and mellow Indian Pale Ale from a California brewery, Lagunitas, filled in beautifully for an Indian beer, which was sadly missing from our local stores.

Dahi Puri Chaat with Green and Tamarind Chutneys ❧  Caroline

 

Indian street food is "chaat". The word means "to lick" as in lip licking good! I was up for the challenge! Access to foreign ingredients is limited in my neck of the woods. Usually a trip to the city is necessary to purchase these. What a surprise to discover that the town of Stouffville now offers not one but two South Asian grocery stores: South Asiyan Supermaket and AKT Super Market! With list in hand I set out to explore them and came away carrying all the required fixings.

 

12 puris

1 potato diced 2/3"

1 cup greek yogurt

1 cup chickpeas

1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder

1/2 tsp red chili powder

10 tsp tamarind chutney 

6 tsp green chutney

1/2 cup sev (squiggly chickpea noodles, the thinnest you can find, store-bought)

  

This is a fun party appetizer. Guests assemble their own! The puris are approximately 5 cm in diameter. Make a hole at the centre of each with your thumb. Stuff them with boiled potatoes and chickpeas. Add a generous amount of yogurt. Top with thin sev, tamarind and green chutney. Sprinkle with chili powder and roasted cumin powder. Eat them as you make 'em. And most importantly, don't forget to lick your lips!

 

Moong Dal and Red Lentils with Browned Onions
Caroline

Photo from Madhur Jaffrey's MC workbook

 

1 cup mung beans
1 cup split red lentils (masoor dal)
5 cups water
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons ghee, clarified butter, or vegetable oil
Generous pinch asafetida
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
3 - 5 dried red chiles
1 small onion, cut into thin rings

 

Pick over the mung beans, wash in several changes of water and drain. Put the mung beans in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add 1 litre (1¾ pints) water and bring to the boil. Watch carefully so that the contents of the pan do not boil over. Remove the froth that rises to the top. Add the turmeric and stir once. Partly cover, turn the heat to low and cook very gently for 40–50 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Add the salt and stir to mix. Put the hot or reheated mung beans into a serving dish and leave in a warm spot.

Put the oil into a small frying pan and set the pan over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 10 seconds. Add the asafoetida and, a second later, the red chillies. Stir for 5 seconds or until the chillies darken. Now add the onion. Stir and fry for 2 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes or until the onions turn brown and crisp. Pour the contents of the pan evenly over the surface of the beans. Serve immediately. (The whole red chillies add flavour and are decorative, but should be nibbled at only by those who know what they’re in for.)

Butter Chicken with Plain Basmati  ❧ Kaarina

It was a welcome revelation to me that Indian food doesn’t need to be hot. In her MasterClass lesson on spices, Madhur Jaffrey explained that while Indian cooks have been experts at handling spices for many millenniums, they had not even heard of chillies until 1498, when Portugese explorer Vasco da Gama, the first to navigate a sea route from Europe, brought chilies from the New World to India. According to Jaffrey, the South embraced the burn, the North not so much. So southern Indian food tends to be much hotter than food in the North. Good to know, even if you’re just choosing an Indian restaurant and not a recipe to cook yourself.

I prefer milder spicing so I chose the much-loved classic, Butter Chicken, a curry from Northern India, as my main dish to prepare along with plain basmati rice, chapati flat bread and a cooling raita - a yogurt, garlic and cucumber condiment.

I must admit that I used only half of the chili prescribed in Jaffrey’s MasterClass Butter Chicken recipe. The sauce comes together quickly but cooking the tandoori chicken, which is added to the sauce just before serving, takes time, including marinating overnight. I made a regular oven version of tandoori chicken for our Diwali feast, but without a tandoori oven it’s not worth the time or the effort. An alternative is to marinate cubed chicken with salt, black and red peppers, cumin and Garam Masala for an hour or two. Sauté in butter, add the sauce and heat through. Jaffrey even gives us permission to use store-bought tandoori chicken with her sauce!

Madhur Jaffrey’s Butter Chicken Sauce

Recipe from MasterClass

Ingredients

4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup water
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon garam masala
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
1 fresh hot green chili, such as bird’s eye, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or a similar red chili powder, such as hot paprika
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1 stick unsalted butter
4 servings leftover boneless tandoori-style chicken (or store-bought)


Combine the tomato paste and water in a large glass measuring cup. Whisk to combine, then add the ginger, heavy cream, garam masala, salt, sugar, green chili, cayenne, cilantro, lemon juice, and cumin. Stir well to incorporate.

In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the tomato-cream mixture. Bring to a simmer, and sauté for a minute or so, stirring to combine with a rubber spatula.
Add the chicken to the pan. Turn it often so that it becomes coated in the sauce. To serve, transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter and spoon extra sauce over the top.

Plain Basmati Kaarina ❧ Kaarina

Learning to cook basmati rice according to Jaffrey’s directions is truly worthwhile - the multiple washings and the soaking pays off in the fluffiest rice. While making your own chapati is delicious, it’s time consuming so it’s OK to substitute store-bought nan or roti unless you love bread making like our Laura and Caroline. Just be sure to heat up store-bought flat breads.

Raita ❧ Kaarina 

Recipe from MasterClass

Ingredients
5-inch cucumber
2½ cups full-fat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves
½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ground in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder (or ½ teaspoon ground cumin powder)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place a box grater in a medium bowl. Peel the cucumber, then finely grate it.
In a separate bowl, whisk the yogurt until it’s smooth. Add the cucumber, mint, cumin, and cayenne pepper, and season the raita with salt and pepper. Mix. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use.

Baked Lamb Shami Kebobs ❧  Diane 

I've made kofta on the stovetop before, shaping the meat into cylinders and then sticking onto skewers. The method of cooking on a sheet pan made for a lot less fuss. Easy enough to prep ahead of time and have ready to pop into the oven so you have time to enjoy the company. Soaking the raw onion rings in sugar water for a few hours took off their hard edge. As a garnish they helped to dress the plate and also added a nice flavour bite.

***

Recipe from MasterClass

Kebabs are usually made one of two ways: shaping minced lamb into hamburger-like patties and then sautéing them in a frying pan, or molding the meat around a skewer and cooking it in a tandoor. Here, Madhur bypasses those steps and presses the meat into a sheet pan before letting it marinate so that it’s infused with spices—cumin, garam masala, and cayenne pepper among them. Once they’re cooked, cut the kebabs into squares and serve them with cocktails or as part of a meal.

Ingredients
2 medium onions, divided: 1 thinly sliced into rings and 1 finely chopped
2 to 3 fresh hot green chilies, such as bird’s eye, destemmed and finely chopped
1 handful fresh mint leaves, chopped (about 5 tbsp), plus a few sprigs for garnish
1 1⁄2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste, plus 1 tsp
4 tbsp blanched, slivered almonds
2 tbsp white poppy seeds
1 lb ground lamb (twice-ground if possible)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala (see page 13)
1⁄4 tsp cayenne pepper 3 tbsp plain yogurt
1 tbsp unsalted butter, for greasing

Method

1. Submerge the onion rings in a bowl of ice water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to serve, for 1 to 5 hours.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the chopped onion, green chilies, mint, and lemon juice. Season with salt, and stir to combine. Set aside for at least 20 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

3. Heat a small skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Toast the almonds until they are golden brown, shaking the pan or stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the toasted almonds to a plate or bowl, and let them cool.

4. Return the pan to medium heat, and toast the poppy seeds until they turn a shade darker, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the poppy seeds to a small bowl, and let them cool.

5. Using a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder, grind the almonds until they are a finepowder, and empty the powder into a large bowl. Repeat with the poppy seeds, and add the powder to the almond powder. Add the lamb, cumin, garam masala, cayenne, yogurt, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the reserved onion-mint mixture. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to combine all of the ingredients together, kneading the mixture into a ball.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

7. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-by- 8-inch baking dish with the butter. Transfer the meat to the center of the dish, then flat- ten it so that it reaches the edges. Pat it into an even layer with your fingers.

8. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. After 50 minutes, remove the dish and carefully drain off any liquid that has accumulated. Return the dish to the oven. Turn the oven to the broil set- ting, and grill until the top of the patty is crispy, about 1 minute.

9. Take the onion slices out of the refrigerator, drain them, and place them on a clean kitchen towel. Gather the edges of the towel together and twist to drain any excess water from the onions.

10. To serve, slice the lamb patty into 1-inch squares and arrange them on a platter or plate, then top with the chilled onions and the reserved sprigs of mint.

 

Okra with Shallots  ❧   Diane

I'm not a big fan of okra - especially when it is slimy. This version was scrumptious as the okra tended more to crispy. The key was to keep them dry before cooking.

***

Recipe from MasterClass

Ingredients
12 oz fresh okra pods, stems and tips removed
1⁄4 cup olive oil, canola oil, or peanut oil
1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds
3 large shallots, halved lengthwise and sliced into thin half-moons (about 3⁄4 cup)
11⁄2 tsp ground coriander
1⁄4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

This recipe calls for cooking the okra with shallots. Small shallots are used widely in South Indian cuisine, but if you can’t track down small shallots, Madhur advises using three bulbs of the larger European varieties available in many markets.

Method

1. Slice each okra on the bias into 3 to 4 pieces, and transfer the pieces to a medium bowl.

2. Warm the oil in a frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the cumin seeds. Let sizzle for a few seconds, then add the sliced okra. Stir to combine, and sauté for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the sliced shallots, and continue to fry until the shallots have picked up a little color, about 3 minutes.

4. Reduce the heat to low and add the coriander, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir to incorporate, and stir-fry for 7 to 9 min- utes, until the okra is crispy and tender. Add the lemon juice, and mix well to com- bine. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as preferred.

 

Cucumber and Tomato Salad  ❧ Diane  

Fresh cucumbers and tomatoes helped to balance the spices. I've not added fresh curry leaves or mustard seeds to a fresh salad before, it added a nice dimension.

***

Recipe from MasterClass

Ingredients
2 medium cucumbers, such as Kirby, or 1 large English cucumber

1 pint halved cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, or 1 large heirloom tomato, diced or cut into bite- size wedges

Juice of 1 lemon

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1⁄8 tsp cayenne pepper
1⁄3 tsp roasted cumin powder (see page 14)
2 tbsp olive oil or peanut oil
1⁄4 tsp whole brown mustard seeds
8 to 10 fresh curry leaves

A tadka, the Indian technique of  cooking a mixture of spices in fat to release their essential oils, is used to season dishes from dals to salads.

This simple tomato and cucumber salad is topped with a two-ingredient tadka—one made with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Be patient and attentive while making your tadka; the mustard seeds will have reached optimum flavor when they stop sputtering in the hot oil, and the curry leaves should be translucent and curled.

Method

1. Peel the cucumbers and cut them into quarters, first halving them crosswise and then halving each section lengthwise. Ar- range the quartered cucumbers on a plate with the tomatoes. Drizzle the vegetables with lemon juice, and then season with salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and the cayenne pepper. Sprinkle the roasted cumin powder over the top.

2. Heat the oil in a small saucepan or skillet set over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to sizzle and pop, add the curry leaves and cook until the leaves are glossy, a few seconds more. Remove the oil from the heat, and pour it over the cucumbers and tomatoes. Serve immediately.

A Farmers' Market Inspired Menu

 

Menu

Leek and Mushroom Soup with a Goat Cheese Crostini
❧
Pippa Goat Crottin and Chive Omelet with Steamed Green Beans
❧
Red Fingerling and Smoked Trout with Asiago Cheese
❧
A Salad of Radishes and their greens with Baby Kumatoes

Caroline

Fall is upon us and so is the desire to get back to a slower pace, a comforting routine and menu. So with this in mind, I decided to resume the MasterClass with Alice Waters, founder and owner of California’s renowned Chez Panisse.

It is surprising that this woman has no formal culinary education yet, she has influenced the paths of so many young chefs, food writers and founders of notable food-related businesses. Her love of bringing people together around a table with the freshest of ingredients is the base of her philosophy. And her class is about a philosophy of food. She encourages her pupils to “cook with spontaneity, building your confidence so that you can leap away from a script.” Her teachings are those of our “grandmothers and our grandmothers’ grandmothers”. Fresh. Organic. Harmonious. Natural. Biodiverse. Sustainable. She balks at the fast food culture that has taken over our lives but, she is hopeful. 

“Don’t go to the market or store with a shopping list. Buy what looks alive and inspiring, and plan your menus when you get home.”
— Alice Waters, The Farmer’s Market / Learning from the Source

With this quote as our shopping guideline, we headed to the Uxbridge Farmers’ Market.

I blazed through the market and quickly filled my basket: butternut squash, local ginger root, fresh farm eggs, fingerling potatoes, leeks, pectin free sour cherry jam, black olive sourdough bread, two cheeses (Pippa goat cheese crottin and Shepherd’s Harvest aged sheep cheese), garlic and ears of fresh corn.

I had a couple of soup ideas in mind or maybe a simple herb and cheese omelet.

When we got back to the kitchen, we laid out our market purchases and began jotting down ideas: soups: butternut squash and ginger, leek and potato, broccoli and leek with blue goat cheese, leek and mushroom with a brie on black olive sourdough crostini, Pippa goat crottin and herb omelet, salads: radish and their greens with tomato,  beet on a bed of spicy greens with chèvre, mushroom on a bed of spicy greens with chèvre, fingerling potatoes and smoked trout with Asiago … so many inspired ideas!

Kaarina ❧ Leek and Mushroom Soup with Goat Cheese Crostini

I came home from the market with enough red and golden beets, radishes, white Sicilian eggplants, zucchini, broccoli and bitter greens to feed an army of vegetarians for a week. And I didn’t use any of them in my Alice Walters Market Lunch. The leeks and mushrooms, Shiitake and Cremini, were the clear winners. They found their way into the soup pot for our first course. A few tablespoons of crème fraîche stirred into the pot at the end and goat cheese crostini floated on top finished the dish. The recipe was a riff on this Leek Soup with Brie Toasts . I did not use any flour to thicken.

The bloomy cheese — Mason’s Delight from River’s Edge Goat Dairy  in Arthur, ON — delivered just a bit of zing while the dark vegetable ash veins running through it added all kinds of visual appeal. So artsy I wish I could take credit for planning it.

Caroline ❧ Pippa Goat Crottin Chive Omelet with Green Beans

 

A simple goat cheese omelet is so satisfying. The tangy filling is a perfect match for eggs. I questioned the market fromager about using a bloomy rind cheese. He responded that they “use it all the time in omelets”. Although the Pippa was delicious, I wished I had gone with a spreadable goat selection, say a caramelized onion and green peppercorn.

The omelets quickly came together and Diane steamed some green beans which when ready, were tossed into the empty omelet pan with a generous amount of butter, salt and a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes.

More about the Pippa Goat Crottin: “From Grey County, this is Wild Meadows Farm’s most exclusive cheese, inspired by the classic crottin style cheeses found in the south of France. This style of cheese is a rare find in Ontario. Pippa is creamy, with some firmness, and has woodsy and mushroom notes, complete with a gentle bite. It is made from WMF fresh chèvre. It is hand rolled and aged until a soft white mold rind grows on the outside.”

Oh how we love thee cheese!

Diane ❧ Red Fingerling and Smoked Trout with Asiago Cheese
and Salad of Radishes and their Greens with Baby Kumatoes

 
The Sunday market was filled with colourful produce and offerings from local artisans. My first stop was a garlic producer who had 6 different types on display, each with different colours, sizes, and smells.

In addition to fresh squash, beets, cherry tomatoes and herbs, my arms were laden heavily with meats, smoked fish, cheese, and some gin from a local distillery called The Durham. 

The only preparation really required for my first 'dish' was to boil the red fingerlings. I tried using Caroline's InstantPot, just to see if it would help retain the potato's flavour more than a regular boil. They were delicious! The smoked trout was served alongside, with a dollop of crème fraîche and fresh parsley. The Asiago was smooth, semi-soft, and slightly aged for a sweet and nutty flavour. All the tastes and textures worked quite well together, although next time I would add some crunch with crackers or pickles. 

When Alice raved about her Japanese Suribachi ("grinding-bowl") in her MasterClass I was inspired to buy one for myself. It's a beautifully crafted bowl, with ridges perfectly designed for grinding spices and pressing garlic; the bowl has a gentle lip to make it easy to pour the finished dressing over the salad. Here's a quick demo of Alice Waters using the suribachi to prepare a garlic vinaigrette with Martha Stewart.

It really is a  pleasure for all the senses to prepare a vinaigrette and simple salad. The sound of the knife chopping on the wooden cutting board and friendly chatter in the kitchen. A small taste of the bitter greens told me they wanted a touch of honey added to the dressing.  The tomatoes calling for pepper and the radish wanting some salt. All the veg were colourful and beautiful — the black radish dark as black pepper on the outside and porcelain white inside, and as soon as they were cut open a zesty scent burst from the skin. A few tiny watermelon radishes were stolen from Kaarina, because they added such a pretty element to the plate with their blushing centres. Music garlic enlivened the dressing, along with aged sherry vinegar. The fresh greens sat in the dressing for awhile to soften them up. Alice Waters mixes her salads with her hands, gently tossing and arranging, so in addition to sight, smell, and taste, there is the added pleasure of touch. ❧

Sumptuous Summer Menu inspired by Marcella Hazan

The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is a wonderful collection of recipes, with explicit directions on timing and technique, to help you bring the best of Italian kitchens to your table. 

There is no such thing as Italian haute cuisine -  there are no high or low roads in Italian cooking. All roads lead to the home, to la cucina di casa - the only one that deserves to be called Italian cooking. (Marcella Hazan in the Introduction of Essentials)

Fresh pasta making was involved! Caroline brought her motor and we hitched it to Diane's hand cranked pasta machine to produce silken dough that was hand cut at the table, and then dropped into vigorously boiling water. You can't get pasta any fresher than this!

Our feast was inspired from the pages of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking:

Sumptuous Summer Menu

Venetian primi, salmon with radicchio and balsamic

Papparadelle with Red and Yellow Bell Pepper Sauce with Sausages

Roast chicken with lemons, followed by Green bean salad

Black and White Macerated Grapes

Affagato

Kaarina: Venetian primi, salmon with radicchio and balsamic 

wine match: , Nebiolo 2019 Fontanafredda DOC 

Marcella taught me to cook. Some 30-odd years ago my friend Ron returned to Canada from 12 happy years eating in Rome and gifted me two Marcella Hazan cookbooks. They came with apron strings attached. I was to learn Italian home cooking and invite him to dinner.

What I learned was not so much Italian – that is, what North Americans think of as Italian – but good every-day home cooking. It becomes dinner party fare by adding a course or two and serving the meal according to Marcella’s rules on the art of Italian dining.

The genius of Marella’s cucina is its simplicity and precision. You always, always, always start with the freshest ingredients – and not too many of them. Her recipes rarely call for more than a half dozen things. “What you keep out is as significant as what you put in,” she wrote in the Introduction to Marcella Cucina. (Her velvety tomato sauce of world renown has only three ingredients: tomatoes, onion and butter.) 

I chose Steamed Salmon with Radicchio and Balsamic Vinegar for our Epi lunch as an example of how a few carefully chosen, common ingredients can be transformed quickly into something quite unique. The main players in this Venetian production - salmon wrapped in radicchio, steamed and drizzled with Balsamic vinegar – seem an unlikely trio. The supporting cast is limited to EVOO and S&P. The result is perfect dinner party fare either as a primo or main course. I thought the dish needed a fruity full wine, so I chose a Nebbiolo, the Barolo grape. It played together very happily with the competing strong flavours, although I expect a good classic Chianti would also do the job.

Caroline: Papparadelle with Red and Yellow Bell Pepper Sauce with Sausages

wine match: La Luna e i Falo, Barbera D'Asti, 2017 Vita Colte DOCG

Having heard my fellow Epis frequently mention and reference Marcella Hazan, last winter I ordered a copy of her Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. So in the hopes of putting the cookbook to good use, I took it with me on the boat this past summer. The stale sourdough bread was transformed into her panzanella. Laura’s green beans were cooked just right as per her precise instructions. And in preparation for our Wolfe Island pizza night, I read the section on pizza which also covers toppings. And if memory serves me right, Kaarina made her marinara topping in honour of the sailors anchored in Breaky Bay. Marcella was very much with me this summer. It all seemed so natural to celebrate her so we agreed to cook Italian her way for our September Epitourists lunch.

Things I learned when I prepared Marcella’s Red and Yellow Bell Pepper Sauce with Sausages served on fresh pappardelle:

• The cookbook was first published in 1973 at a time when Italian ingredients were not accessible in North America, so Marcella suggests the use of unbleached all purpose flour to make fresh pasta in lieu of the 00 or doppio zero. BUT, we can now purchase 00 flour! So, I made pappardelle: 200g of 00 flour, 2 eggs and a pinch of salt!
• Semolina di grano duro is for industrially produced pasta. She does not find it suitable for homemade pasta as it is “often too grainy”.
• The recipe says to peel the bell peppers. I have never peeled a pepper. I tried. It wasn’t pleasant. I gave up. I contemplated oven roasting them followed by a sweating session in a closed container and then removing their skin but, I feared that this would modify the texture of the peppers to an extreme. Marcella was watching… I feared her reprisal. In the end, I didn’t peel. Oh well! I did come to understand that there’s a reason behind her detailed instructions (hhmm, have I heard K mention this before?).
• Don’t let the simplicity of the ingredients fool you, this sauce is absolutely delicious. It is lightly sweet and velvety rich!
• One last word, I cut the sausage in tiny bite size pieces instead of her suggested 1/2” because it just looks prettier on the plate.

Diane: Roast chicken with lemons, followed by Green bean salad

wine match: Capitel Nicalo, Valpolicella, 2018 Tedeschi DOC Superiore

Roast chicken is a mainstay on home menus across the world, and this simple version is going into regular rotation at my house because it produces such delicious, moist, and lemony results.  

Roast chicken with lemons requires "No fat to cook with, no basting to do, no condiments but salt and pepper. After you put it in the oven you turn it just once." One technique I learned from Marcella's recipe was to soften the lemons by rolling them back and forth on the counter while applying pressure from the palm of your hand; then poking the lemons with a sharp stick so they release their steams and juices. The other secret here is to cook the bird, breast side up, for the first thirty minutes before flipping it over for the remainder of the cooking time (allow about 20 minutes per pound). Otherwise, the bird is self-basting. Active time: 15 minutes; total time, 2 hours.  

Likewise, her Green Bean salad was straightforward and simple. Soaking the green beans for ten minutes prior to cooking plumped them up. Ten minutes in boiling water and then snapping off each end, then dressing with fine quality olive oil, sherry vinegar, and maldon salts. The only quibble I had with this recipe was that snapping off the ends of the beans produced a lot of waste, although it did ensure that only the best and most favourable pieces were brought to table. 

Diane: Black and White Macerated Grapes

What a beautiful bowl of fruit! 

Although neither the black or white grapes from the grocery store could be as flavourful as Italian grapes in season, this was still a nice light dessert that was easy to pull together. Just halve the grapes, remove the seeds if any, and soak in the juice of freshly squeezed oranges with a tablespoon or two of sugar for two to three hours, and then serve.

Diane: Affagato

Pure vanilla ice cream with a splash of hot espresso marries hot with cold; light with dark. Simple and delicious!

Garden Party

Menu

Sarnie

Strawberry Shortcake

Fresh Fruits

A breath of fresh air and a season of growing hope!

Covid cases were falling, people were getting vaccinated, and it seemed life might soon return to normal. Indoor dining still came with restrictions, but we were craving food and company. 

So on a sunny afternoon in the early days of summer, Kaarina, Caroline, and Diane got together again in Kaarina's backyard Bamba Shack, surrounded by her lovely garden. Although our virtual get-togethers have been fun, being together in person was reason to celebrate.

Caroline and Kaarina prepared seasonal dishes, and welcomed Diane's humble offering of simple fruits to finish the meal. 

Caroline: Sarnie

This is not the dainty pinwheel, triangle or finger sandwich found at your traditional tea party. This is roll-up-your-sleeves and grab-a-knife-and-fork queen-sized sandwich.

I recall sending my husband a picture of the stacked sarnie from Jamie Oliver's Ultimate Veg cookbook. In my text I said: “When this is over [the pandemic] I will make this.” As restrictions slowly lifted after the third wave, the Epitourists finally could get together for lunch. A perfect opportunity to make this beautiful sandwich. I planned my biweekly sourdough bread making to coincide with our lunch date. Fresh bread at the ready, I gathered up the ingredients to make the sarnie. Once sliced halved and quartered, all the vegetables were grilled on the BBQ. I must confess that it absolutely broke my heart to extract the crumb from a freshly baked loaf of bread. As the recipe indicated, I saved it to make croutons. Once dressed, I stuffed all the ingredients into the hollowed bread cavity. Surprisingly, it all fit and the end result weighed approximately 4 kg. Tightly wrapped in cellophane, I refrigerated the sarnie overnight under the weight of a heavy cast iron pot.

Served alongside a bed of delicate greens and herbs picked fresh from the garden, the sarnie was a treat.

I have since made a similar version of this recipe on the mighty wee trawler Ruby Tuesday. I used cured, black olives, fresh rosemary, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and goat cheese as a dressing. I left out the cauliflower and added grilled mushrooms and rapini. Anything goes here. Your imagination is the limit.

Karrina: Strawberry Shortcake

When local strawberries arrived at my green grocer in June, the heady fragrance triggered memories of cake and whipped cream piled high with crimson berries. Yes! It was strawberry shortcake season! What better excuse for an afternoon garden party? And what better time for one than than Summer Solstice?

I have observed that I buy strawberries with my nose. I pick up a box and bring it to eye level, take a deep breath through my nose and if I don’t detect that heady sweetness that sings “Summertime,” I move on to other fruit. 2021 was a great year for strawberries - at least according to my olfactory epithelium. We ate a lot of them. As I said, the nose knows.

For my garden party strawberry cake I settled on a simple European sponge cake rather than a shortcake just because I like a classic genoise. It’s so versatile, great for all kinds of fillings and toppings. And simple. Just three ingredients - 6 eggs, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup flour. No butter. Beat the eggs and sugar together until it triples in volume, gently fold in the flour by thirds and pour into a 9-inch springform pan fitted with parchment on the bottom. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out crumb free. Voila! Simple.

When the cake is cool - preferably the next day - slice it horizontally so you have two rounds. Slice 2 pounds of strawberries with a teaspoon or two of sugar and set aside for an hour to macerate. Whip up two cups of 35% cream with a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon vanilla. Pile up plenty of whipped cream and sliced strawberries on the first round of cake. Place the second round on top and pile on more strawberries and cream. Finish with cream and decorate with whole or half strawberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Spring Risotto

In the spirit of online cooking classes, and as Covid stubbornly continues to prevent us from gathering in person, we thought it would be fun to plan a menu we could all prepare and cook together in our separate kitchens.

Caroline chose the dish - risotto. Perfetto! Something we could personalize and that would allow for good, stirring conversation.

There are three different types of rice that are most suitable for risotto: carnaroli is known as the 'caviar' of risotto rice (the creamiest and most forgiving to cook with); vialone nano, which is a shorter grain grown in the Veneto region; and arborio, which is the most widely available. 

Risotto is a wonderful meal unto itself and endlessly adaptable to the season. This is definitely a versatile dish with recipes as plentiful as the individual cooks.

On this beautiful sunny spring evening we enjoyed our variations on the theme and imagined the taste of other plates. Hopefully, soon, we will be able to share a lunch in person.

Caroline 

I look forward to Mark McEwan column in the weekend paper. His risotto write up inspired me to make the dish and I crowned the creamy rice with lobster claws. Well rehearsed, I looked forward to cooking it with my Epitourist gang. 

McEwan insists that the “#1" tip to a killer risotto is to master the stock and to keep it just below simmer to the side.” So, I obliged. I used carnaroli rice, Alsace Pinot Gris, roasted asparagus and pan fried scallops in copious amount of butter. 

Off heat, McEwan adds three spoonfuls of 35 % cream to finish this comforting dish. I like his post dinner pairing suggestion of a pavlova with early summer berries, lemon curd and peaked cream, yum!

Kaarina

I tend to time travel while stirring my risotto. My favourite trip is to the Amalfi Coast, where 20 years ago I blissfully savoured a seafood risotto in an unimposing small cafe on the edge of Priano harbour while watching the fishermen push their boats off the rocky shore. Then there was the New Year’s Eve when my friend Peter made the most memorable shrimp risotto ever. What made it so remarkable no one can say. Was it butter? Could it have been the champagne?

When I was casting about for fresh inspiration for our Epi Risotto Cook-Off, I didn’t have to look long or hard. Aubergine and Lemon Risotto popped up in the first search. A 2008 Guardian newspaper column by (who else?) Yotam Ottolenghi.

The recipe calls for two eggplants - one roasted whole to a creamy pulp; the second cubed and fried, rather like croutons. I took the liberty of replacing the lemon zest and juice with a finely chopped preserved lemon. I had my heart set on trying a new rose from Roussillon - Tesselae Rose by Domaine Lafage - while stirring the risotto and half of my glass found its way into the pot. Lovely.

P.S. The leftover risotto turned into dreamy Arancini  - fried risotto balls - for the next day’s backyard cocktails with friends.

Laura

Risotto is such a go-to comfort dish for me. I make sure I always have a package of Arborio rice in the cupboard, and I usually have homemade stock in the freezer (thanks to the ease of making it in the Instant Pot). Then it’s just a matter of rooting around to find some veg, herbs, and whatever meat or fish is around. And sometimes just a package of dried mushrooms will do the trick. This time I had some smoked mackerel, a fennel bulb, and some lovely Ontario asparagus on hand. 

I don’t use a recipe anymore. There’s not much variation in making a basic risotto. A quick Google finds Basic Risotto.  The only change I made was to sauté chopped fennel along with the onion. I also roasted a bit of the fennel along with the asparagus to finish the dish. This time I sautéed in olive oil, but sometimes I use butter. I always finish it by swirling in a knob of butter. I usually always grate in some Parmesan, but refrained from adding too much this time because of the saltiness of the mackerel. 

Diane

I don't generally follow a particular recipe for risotto, but do abide by the basic method of stir, stir, stir. Although at a previous Epi meal, I used Laura's Insta-pot to make a mushroom risotto and added scotch. 

This time around. I added a splash of vermouth to the rice when it was first toasting in the pan, and then flavoured the chicken stock with the broth from reconstituted dried mushrooms. Mushrooms, peas and basil were added with the parmesan. Pan-fried scallops to top.

A new ingredient for me was Meyer Lemon Honey Living vinegar, which I drizzled overtop to finish. Living Vinegar is literally alive, with living vinegar mother in every bottle. Raw and unfiltered, prebiotic, functional, and full of complex flavor. Created by Acid League, who say they were tired of only finding apple cider vinegar with these benefits, and so created Living Vinegar with a healthy dose of flavour. I love the taste and have been using it in salad dressings and cocktails, too. 

Chef Thomas Keller's MasterClasses

This time around, Epitourists drew inspiration from Thomas Keller's MasterClasses. The chef has three distinct classes: Vegetables, Pasta and Eggs (I); Meats, Stocks, and Sauces (II); Seafood, Sous Vide, and Desserts (III). He generously shares insights garnered from decades of experience. 

His MasterClass is a joy to watch.

Chef Keller’s name is synonymous with quality and high standards. The chef and proprietor of The French Laundry, in Napa Valley, and Per Se, in New York, among other restaurants, he is the first and only American-born chef to hold multiple three-star ratings from the prestigious Michelin Guide, as well as the first American male chef to be designated a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour, the highest decoration in France.

Yet there’s nothing pretentious about him despite having the bragging rights. There’s an old-fashioned civility and calm about the man that makes him an effective and favoured teacher. You learn there are no gimmicks - it’s all technique diligently executed. You become convinced that with practice and patience you too can do it in your own modest kitchen.

At one point, when the chef's parmesan crisp broke, he set it aside without a word and reached out for a perfect one that had been prepared ahead of time. He gently laid the thin tuile atop of the dish he had just plated. There’s no doubt this segment could have been edited out but instead, this great chef made a “teaching moment.” Yes, the perfect parmesan crisp was beautiful. He removes it and replaces it with pieces of the broken one. And they too are beautiful. Why did the crisp break? Because he allowed it to cool too much. Proof that even the experienced Michelin starred chef can make mistakes. 

After enjoying his MasterClasses, we prepared our courses for each other and then packaged them into individual take-aways to enjoy, Covid-style, at an afternoon Zoom lunch. We had the opportunity to share the food, as well as a few 'ah-ha' moments from lessons learned.

Menu

Salt tasting

Salad plate of roasted beets, asparagus, pickles and hardboiled egg

Potato Gnocchi

Chocolate pot de creme

Cheese plate

***

Salt Tasting

Keller had assigned a salt tasting for homework. We grabbed various salts from our cupboards.... sea salt, Himalayan, Maldon, fleur de sel, and iodized. Diane had also prepped some cumin sea salt, stealing notes from Alice Waters' MasterClass: it's just two tablespoons of sea salt and one tablespoon of cumin (toast the cumin seeds lightly in a cast iron pan and then when they're cool, grind them together with a bit of salt).

We noted that the finer grinds of salt were easily absorbed into the vegetable. The finishing salt, Maldon, added extra crunch and visual interest. Some of us found it hard to discern the different tastes, but the textures were unmistakable. In future we will have to try a full variety, including black volcanic salt, sel gris, or Hawaiian red.

Diane: Salad Plate

Chef Keller enjoys a simple breakfast of two hard boiled eggs almost every morning, bites of protein to start the day, so Diane incorporated some on the vegetable plate of roasted beets, boiled asparagus, and pickled veg.  

Seemingly simple, the vegetables did take time to prepare using Keller's techniques, but the effort was well worth the prize. Amazing colour, fresh taste, great texture. 

This Epi was totally inspired by the care Keller took in his demonstrations as he prepared vegetables: raw, roast, boil, glaze, braise, puree, pickle.... Such endless variety. 

Diane said she may never buy pickles again, as it was so much fun to layer the different vegetables' colours and shapes into jars. Such a pretty result! The brine was simple: 200 grams sugar; 400 grams water; 200 grams white wine vinegar; thyme sprigs; mustard seeds.

Caroline: Potato Gnocchi

Caroline summed up MasterClass I, II and III into one word: delightful. She observed his passion for l’art culinaire is palpable, inclusive (always uses “WE” never “I”), and authentic (admits he too makes mistakes). 

The first attempt of Gnocchi. Potato gnocchi (TKI. Lesson 33), took place a few days before the Epi Zoom lunch. That evening, it was served with a simple pomodoro sauce, but the results were not thrilling. The remainder of the batch froze well and promised to thaw quickly. 

For the second attempt, Caroline found a more interesting TK recipe to share with the Epis: Gnocchi with Mushroom and Butternut squash. This was a game changer. The ingredients appeal to the taste buds. “Butter! Give me butter! Always butter!” says Fernand Point, French Chef.

We enjoyed our TK lunch on a very cold and rainy Sunday. Served in a deep bowl and eaten with a spoon (a small one to make the pleasure last longer), the buttery, pillowy dumplings offered much comfort on such a day.

This course may indeed transform itself into an adventure as we anchor our boats in the calm on a summer's day. For our future inspiration, Caroline had tucked gnocchi paddles into the take-away packages. She made these for us from scratch so we could practise our rolling techniques. 

Kaarina: Chocolate Pot de creme

Being Easter time Kaarina thought it would be fun to make the chocolate pot de creme Chef Keller demonstrates in his third MasterClass series. With such basic ingredients - chocolate, egg whites, cream, a bit of sugar - the quality of the chocolate becomes paramount. Chef Keller prefers dark Nicaraguan chocolate but he gives us leave to use whatever chocolate we like best. Kaarina went for a dark 70% Belgian chocolate. 

Pot de creme is typically baked in the oven. Chef Keller makes his on the stovetop, and uses an immersion blender to give the custard a lighter mousse-like consistency, pours it into individual serving pots and refrigerates them for four hours before serving them topped with Chantilly creme and chocolate shavings. Using a bit more vanilla in the cream than Kaarina normally would, elevated the whipped cream topping to another level of deliciousness.

Kaarina found her demi-tasse with a pretty wreath of flowers around the rim were a perfect substitute for official pots de creme. The little cups were passed down from a great aunt who once a long, long time ago served as a maid in a fancy house in Leningrad.

Cheese Plate

Two aged cheddars and a creamy full moon. 

Diane and Kaarina both chose two-year-old cheddars so we had a chance to compare. The Empire cheddar made just outside Campbellford, Ontario was smooth but still managed strong flavour, the President's Choice brand had a sharper edge and saltier taste.

Caroline’s choice was Le Pleine Lune - a Quebec cheese with an English translation of Full Moon. Rolled in vegetable ash, creamy and with a tartish edge. Delicious!