The most difficult part about using rhubarb as a pastry filling is that once it’s cooked it has almost no structure. Actually it’s entirely liquid. For this reason rhubarb is often mixed with other fruit like strawberries or apples. Right now I have lots of rhubarb, hardly any fruit in the freezer, and berries and apples are still months off. In other words I have to set my rhubarb filling with gelatin or cornstarch.
We like rhubarb because it is tart, but oftentimes it is too tart. To make sure the acidity isn’t overpowering, I make rhubarb pie in a shallow, French tart pan instead of a classic North American pie pan; this … Continue reading.
I just nailed down a solid ratio of ingredients for a classic crumble. If you’re not from around here, let me tell you about crumbles.
A crumble is a casserole filled with some manner of stewed or baked fruit, topped with a crispy layer made from flour, sugar, and butter, usually with the addition of other grains or nuts. It is baked in a casserole, and often served with ice cream.
Crumble and crisp are two words for the same thing, though crumble seems to be the more common term in the UK, while crisp is more common in North America. As usual, Canadians comfortably elide the British and American vernaculars.
Crumble should not to be confused with cobbler, which … Continue reading.
I love creating plates that feature different components of the same ingredient: roasted beets with wilted beet greens, for instance, or pork loin and pork belly side by side. The truth is that no creature is capable of offering more variety at the dinner table than the triffid.
About Triffids
Triffids are interesting creatures. They are genetic hybrids, part animal, part plant. The precise intentions behind their development is uncertain, but researchers soon discovered that their oil is extremely useful and relatively cheap. Triffid oil has many industrial applications. It is also edible, and delicious.
As they are part animal and part plant, we can harvest a shockingly diverse set of food from triffids. Let’s talk anatomy.
Possibly my favourite application for rhubarb. Almost any tart fruit can be used, but the sour flavour of rhubarb marries beautifully with the nutty character of the brown butter.
Every time I brown butter I ask myself why I don’t do it more often. It’s quick, more or less foolproof, and one of the great, complex flavours of the kitchen. Simply put butter in a heavy pot over medium high heat, then remove once the moisture has boiled off and the milk solids have browned. If you need more guidance, you can think of browning butter like making syrup: as more and more water evaporates, the boiling point of the liquid rises. Use a candy thermometer and pull the brown … Continue reading.
Oddly enough, I eat a lot of local fruit this time of year. Especially rhubarb.[1] Every spring and summer we freeze a large quantity of chopped rhubarb stalks. The following April it suddenly occurs to me that in a few weeks there will be fresh rhubarb popping up in the backyard, and that I should probably use up last year’s harvest before that time comes.
Think of the following posts as either a way to clear the freezer of last year’s fruit, or as a way of looking forward to the new fruit on its way.
Sticklers will insist that this drink isn’t really shrub.
Shrub is an old-timey North American drink, traditionally a reduction of fruit … Continue reading.
I call these egg noodles to distinguish them from the eggless, dried, commercially-produced pastas like spaghetti and macaroni.
Let’s get to it.
You’ve no doubt seen nonnas or professional chefs mix pasta dough together right on the workbench by mounding up all the flour and making a well in the centre for all the liquid ingredients.
This is more than a parlour trick.
If you were to combine all the ingredients in a bowl at once and stir them together, you would find that they don’t come together; the dough will seem much too dry, and will stay crumbly and separate. It takes the flour a while to absorb the moisture in the eggs and milk. Slowly incorporating in this … Continue reading.
When I was little we called these savoury pastries “scones,” our pronunciation rhyming with the word “owns”, but they are much more like American biscuits than British scones (the pronunciation of which rhymes with “lawns”).
For the sake of clarity I’ve taken to calling them biscuits. Whatever you call them, they are flaky quick breads made with butter, milk, and flour. A little salt and a little baking powder. That’s it.
My mom used to make a ham and cheese biscuit. She made her dough with milk soured with vinegar (buttermilk would have been used when she was growing up, but we never had this in our fridge). The dough was rolled into a sheet, covered with slices of ham … Continue reading.
I think I remember scallop potatoes more fondly than any other form of the tuber. Maybe French fries were more highly prized when I was a child, but truth be told I ate them much more often than scallop potatoes. Scallop potatoes, being a casserole dish, was reserved for large dinners, especially Easter.
At its core the dish is potatoes, cut into rounds (scalloped), then baked in cream and cheese. There are obviously countless variations; I know some mothers who bake their scallop potatoes in mushroom or onion soup mix. There is a classic French dish called pommes à la dauphinois that is identical to scallop potatoes. The addition of grated cheese to the top of the dish would make … Continue reading.
When you order hash browns at a diner, you’re liable to get any number of things. In my experience, all hash browns can be broken into two broad classifications:
Hash Browns Made from Cubed Potato. Also called home fries. This is the less interesting of the two classes.
Hash Browns Made from Grated Potato, bound to varying degrees. Highly bound and cohesive varieties include McDonald’s Hash Browns, Tater Tots, and Jewish latkes.[1] Loosely or not-at-all bound varieties would be found in corned beef hash. Hash browns made from grated potato are similar to several traditional European potato dishes, notably the Swiss rösti. They are superior to those made from cubed potatoes because they have a much higher … Continue reading.
In grade eight we studied Japan. I remember learning that they eat cold rice and pickles for breakfast. I was revolted.
Many years later, in the summer of 2010, Lisa and I hosted an Austrian student named Dominik. He was staying in Edmonton to work at some of the hotel kitchens in the downtown core. He usually started work late enough that I had time to cook him breakfast before he left. We went through a few days of yogurt and granola and toast and the like. One day he started work even later than usual, so I made scrambled eggs and hash browns.
The expression that I had made when I first heard about a breakfast of cold rice … Continue reading.
The personal website of Edmonton chef Allan Suddaby
Some quick notes on a springtime specialty.
Possibly my favourite application for rhubarb. Almost any tart fruit can be used, but the sour flavour of rhubarb marries beautifully with the nutty character of the brown butter.
