Virtual crêpes! |
Kaarina
With Covid-19 at large, Epitourists were all staying put: Safe in our homes — Laura on Wolfe Island, Caroline in the Durham Forest, Diane and I in Toronto. Yes, we were all social distancing, in self isolation, but we were not about to cancel our March Epitourist lunch.
There was no getting around it. If we wanted to eat and greet, we had to get over ourselves and our antipathy to seeing ourselves and being seen on video. It was time to dial up a video conference call. Of course, we couldn’t share the taste or smell of the dishes we each prepared in our own kitchens but we could see them and enjoy our own creations in virtual companionship.
This was more a social call than a culinary happening. The idea was to cook from ingredients that are pantry staples in most people’s kitchens. No special trips to the store required.
Caroline
Opa! |
It
was nice to have lunch with my epicurean friends. Life as we know it
today has put a stop to the touristic aspect of our group. Trips are
being cancelled and we give going out the door a second thought.
Pasta, pesto with potatoes and green beans. |
Diane
Personally I have found extra time to tinker in the kitchen and spend a bit more time experimenting. Ruth Reichel started my quest for perfect crêpes with her recipe for German Apple Pancakes, making them seem deceptively simple in her book, Save Me the Plums. On my first attempt they were certainly not thin enough to be stacked three high, layered with filling and rolled. Try again. The secret to thin crêpes seems to be to refrigerate the batter and let it rest. I turned to the more classic crêpes Suzette for the Epitourist lunch, having simple ingredients at hand. I have to say, I did like flaming the crêpes with Grand Marnier, with the liqueur adding a taste of torched caramel. Delicious! Paired with a glass of the same liqueur.
Crêpes Suzette! |
Personally I have found extra time to tinker in the kitchen and spend a bit more time experimenting. Ruth Reichel started my quest for perfect crêpes with her recipe for German Apple Pancakes, making them seem deceptively simple in her book, Save Me the Plums. On my first attempt they were certainly not thin enough to be stacked three high, layered with filling and rolled. Try again. The secret to thin crêpes seems to be to refrigerate the batter and let it rest. I turned to the more classic crêpes Suzette for the Epitourist lunch, having simple ingredients at hand. I have to say, I did like flaming the crêpes with Grand Marnier, with the liqueur adding a taste of torched caramel. Delicious! Paired with a glass of the same liqueur.
We've
all seen the internet memes showing the ten pound gain "before" and
"after" self isolation. All this time on our hands and the fridge so
nearby... I will have to seek out more recipes with a bit less butter,
but why deny the occasional extravagance?
Laura
Having a well-stocked pantry is a regular fact of life when you live 20 minutes away from a 20-minute ferry ride to the closest grocery store. There’s never any popping out to pick up an ingredient you don’t have on hand. We are fortunate to have neighbours on the island who provide us with eggs and beautiful grass-fed beef and pork. During he summer I have land to grow vegetables. But at the moment I have my son and his girlfriend, who is vegan, living with me. The fresh summer veggies are not around yet and I don’t always feel like preparing meat and non-meat lunches. So I had to get creative.
Laura
Having a well-stocked pantry is a regular fact of life when you live 20 minutes away from a 20-minute ferry ride to the closest grocery store. There’s never any popping out to pick up an ingredient you don’t have on hand. We are fortunate to have neighbours on the island who provide us with eggs and beautiful grass-fed beef and pork. During he summer I have land to grow vegetables. But at the moment I have my son and his girlfriend, who is vegan, living with me. The fresh summer veggies are not around yet and I don’t always feel like preparing meat and non-meat lunches. So I had to get creative.
Hhmm... cauliflower bolognese! |
There was a cauliflower lurking in my produce drawer,
and I had most of the other ingredients on hand to make a cauliflower bolognese.
I used olive oil instead of butter, and I kept the parmesan out of
Mira’s portion, replacing it with a bit of nutritional yeast, which is a
good umami substitute for cheese. I didn’t have rigatoni, so I
substituted gemelli pasta. I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I snipped a
few of my kale sprouts that I have growing in my little indoor
microgreen garden.
My little microgreen garden! |
I like the idea of a microgreen garden, will have to look a bit more into that for next winter. It seems the thing I am missing most these days are the fresh sprigs of green, so looking forward to having herb pots again in the summer.
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