An Introduction To Garlic Scapes

While I love to go to the market and find beautiful renditions of familiar fruits and vegetables, what I love even more is encountering new products and learning how to incorporate them into my cooking: case in point, Garlic Scapes. These snake-like little stalks of immature garlic are tender and said to have a milder flavor than the mature garlic cloves that we are all familiar with; though that has not been my experience. To me, Garlic Scapes have a much more pronounced garlic taste then the cloves but that pungency is what makes them unique.


To use Garlic Scapes, first remove the “head” – if left to mature, this head would be where the garlic cloves matured, but in the Scape’s immature state, it is not ready to eat. Then, simply chop the stalk of the Scape as would be a green onion.


"Head" of the Scape


Chopped Scape Stalks

Garlic Scapes are excellent additions to salads and stir frys, but they are also fantastic in pesto, pasta or as an accompaniment to fried eggs.


Garlic Scape Pappardelle Pasta

Making Cherry Season Last

There is nothing like the taste of a fresh cherry. Every summer I wait, somewhat impatiently, for them to arrive at the market. Yet no matter how many I manage to eat over the short time they are in season, I never feel as though it's enough to quench my hunger. Even though their fresh taste is short lived, this quick and easy recipe will hopefully be a way to let the sweet taste of summer that cherries embody linger a little longer in your fridge.


CANDIED CHERRIES
Adapted from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert

2 cups pitted cherries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the syrup has thickened. Mr. Lebovitz suggests that the syrup is done when it resembles the consistency of warm honey.


Cool cherries in their syrup and transfer to a jar to refrigerate for up to six months. Since candied cherries are very sweet, they are best used in moderation. Try topping ice cream with them and their syrup or chopping the cherries and adding them to frozen yogurt or gelato in the last minute of churning. Similarly, the cherries can also be chopped and added to cookies or brownies for an extra bit of sweetness.

Dry Aged Beef 101

Ever go to a restaurant and see the words “dry-aged” throughout all the descriptions of the beef? Ever wonder, what the heck does that mean? Here’s what:



Dry aging is literally the process of hanging beef after it has been cut in a commercially refrigerated cooler that remains at a constant humidity throughout the 10 to 28 to 45 days of the aging process. As a note, the process shouldn’t be attempted by home cooks because their refrigerators cannot be assured to maintain an accurate temperature or humidity for that length of time and it also should not be attempted on pork.



During the aging process, the meat breaks down in two ways. One, the moisture that is in the beef evaporates leaving an intensified “beefy” taste and two, the muscle also begins to collapse which makes for a much more tender piece of beef at the end of the again process. What this means is that when you eat a dry-aged steak you are going to be eating a piece of meat that is juicier, more tender, and contains so much more flavour that a piece of meat that was butchered the day before. Though you are guaranteed to pay more for your steak, I promise you, the taste won’t let you down.

Fancy Financiers

Pound cakes can be especially delicious but often times I find them a little too dense and flavorless for my taste. I usually serve pound cake crisped in a fry pan with a little melted butter and then topped with a fruit compote and lightly whipped cream but sometimes when I’m looking for an easy dessert to make, even that much effort is too much. Enter the financier. Financiers are to me, best described as a French pound cake. They contain almond flour which adds a tremendous depth of flavor to the cake but they are just as easy as pound cakes to make.

History has two theories on where the financiers originated. One school of thought is that since they were usually baked in rectangular pans that they resembled little bricks of gold and so were called financiers. The other school suggests that the financiers were first seen in the financial district of Paris where Parisian bankers on their lunch requested a pastry that was easy to eat and wouldn’t get their suits full of crumbs – voila la financier!

Financiers, in addition to being relatively simple to make, also allow for a lot of self-direction which is a nice thing to have in baking. Not only can you decide what type of fruit to top them with but you can also make them in any type of pan you like – Madeleine pans, a round cake pan, a tart pan or a wee-little tart pan, whatever you like; personally, I’m a fan of the tiny tart pan or a round cake pan that you can slice pieces of financiers from.


FRUIT FINANCIERS
Adapted from Nick Malgieri

3 ounces almond flour
3 ounces all purpose flour
6 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 ounces soft butter
1 tablespoon light rum
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
3 egg whites
½ cup to 1 cup fresh fruit such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, apricots or peaches

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray the inside of nine four inch tart pans, an eight inch cake pan, or whichever type of pan you are using, with a non-stick spray. Then, in a bowl of an electric mixer, combined almond flour, all purpose flour, sugar and lemon zest and mix with a paddle attachment till just combined. Add butter and mix for about two minutes. While the mixer is beating, add the vanilla and rum to the egg white. Then, add half of the egg white mixture to the batter and mix on a medium-speed for about two minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the rest of the egg white mixture.

The batter can be placed in the tins using either a spatula or a piping bag and don’t worry if the tops are not completely level, the cake with bake up and level itself for you. Place a maximum of three pieces of fruit on each of the tarts or if you are making a larger tart, scatter fruit across the top of the batter with restraint. If using peaches or apricots, be sure to peel and chop them in a medium-dice.

Bake in a 350F oven for about 35 minutes. A cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean for testing purposes. The cake can be served with whipped cream, ice cream, a fruit compote, or just by itself as a delicious tea cake.

Asparagus -- The First of Many Delights of the Spring Season

Some people know that it is spring when the tulips start popping out of the dirt, others look for little calves running through the fields but for me, spring has always been designated by the appearance of long, thin, succulent and tender asparagus at the market. Though one can often find asparagus year-round at the grocery store, the fact is that spring is the season for asparagus – this is when it is tender and most delicious.



In addition to the typical ways of cooking asparagus; boiling or roasting with a little olive oil and salt and pepper; the vegetable can yield a world of possibilities when a little creativity is put into its preparation. Try grilling it with prosciutto wrapped around it or take a page from Mark Bittman and boil the asparagus till tender and then place in a food processor with pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and a grated hard salty cheese like Parmesan or Pecorino and pulse till you have a pesto that can be used on pasta, fish. Personally my favorite way to use asparagus is in this simple and quick cooking pasta.

PASTA WITH SHAVED ASPARAGUS, PECORINO, AND SALMON
Serves two as a main course, four as a starter

1-8 ounce salmon fillet
1/2 box of pasta (whatever kind you like, I'm partial to the long and thin)
8-10 stalks of asparagus shaved with a vegetable peeler (pretend that the asparagus is a carrot and shave off thin stripes of the stalk)
1/2 to 3/4 cup finely grated pecorino cheese (you could also use asiago or parm and if you are not a cheese fan add less, if you are, add more)
4 tablespoons of butter cut into pieces
Zest of one lemon, juice of two
1/2 cup of reserved pasta water
Salt and pepper to taste

The salmon was not pleasing to the eye, hence its absence and I'm using black pepper pecorino just in case you are wondering what those black things are in my cheese...

Preheat the oven to 400 and cover a baking sheet with tin foil so you have less mess for later. At the same time, bring to a boil a large pot of water for the pasta. While the oven is heating and the water is heating, wash and trim off the bottom bits of the asparagus and peel them like you would a carrot. Zest and juice the lemon and juice it, cut the butter and pre-grate the cheese. Then, lightly salt and pepper the salmon and place in the oven. It should take, depending on the thickness of the fillet, about 10 or so minutes to cook. After the pasta has boiled for a few minutes, add the asparagus to cook with the pasta. When the pasta and asparagus is fully cooked drain both into a colander and reserve about a half cup of pasta water. Then immediately add the pasta and the asparagus back to the pot on the stove. Add most of the cheese, some lemon juice, salt and pepper, the butter and the reserved pasta water. Briskly stir the mixture in the pot and watch as a nice thin sauce starts to develop. Don't be worried if it seems like there is a lot of liquid in the bottom, just turn your stove back on and let the starch from the pasta water thicken up the sauce. Serve with the remaining cheese, lemon and salmon.

Review: The Veselka Cookbook -- By Tom Birchard & Natalie Danford

Veselka is one of those New York diners that has earned itself a legendary status within the city. Located in the eclectic East Village, the diner has been open since the 1960s and was originally owned and operated by a Ukrainian gentleman who had fled the Ukraine after World War II. The restaurant is still owned and operated by the descendants of the original owner and perhaps that is part of the family-like feel that both the restaurant and the cookbook offer. Veselka is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day and consistently delivers delicious meals. Having eaten at the restaurant a number of times, I was excited to see my favourite menu items within the pages of the book because trust me, no one does borscht quite like Veselka. In addition to the wide variety of recipes within the pages of the book, The Veselka Cookbook really also serves as a historical guide to “Little Ukraine” which exists within the East Village. Though the book has faults, the recipes provide the keys to delivering delicious, homey meals to one’s family which was clearly the intent of the book.

The first recipe that I attempted in the book was the Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins . They were, in a word, wonderful. Easy, delicious, and the perfect muffin texture (not too soft, not too firm with a perfectly crisp top and a moist centre) they didn’t last long in my house. Looking at the recipe, it may seem that the muffins required a lot of ingredients, but if you are someone who cooks at home, chances are you probably have most of the ingredients already – I only needed to purchase the pumpkin. Also, unlike some of the other recipes in the book that list pages of steps, this recipe was really just a matter of mixing wet ingredients into dry and baking – simply delicious.

Being that I had made a rich challah-like braided bread the day before, the Veselka French Toast seemed like the perfect recipe try out in order to use up the leftover bread. The recipe used very few ingredients and had relatively simple instructions which were a change from some of the other in-depth recipes in the book. As such, like the muffins, it was nice to not have to go out and buy ingredients but rather to have a really tasty dish that utilizes many of the things that you already have in your pantry. Most importantly, the French Toast tasted very good, was very easy and came together super quick – I would say that I had served the first slices no more than ten minutes after I started cooking.

I also attempted a couple of The Veselka Cookbook ‘s savory recipes. One, a purely selfish attempt, was the restaurant’s famed dill salad dressing. When I go to Veselka, this dressing is something that I always look forward to because it is so delicious and tangy; however, the recipe in the book was not the same recipe that the restaurant serves. The dressing is a very basic mixture of sour cream, yogurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper and dill and while good, lacked the vinegar tang that I had longed for. The recipe suggested thinning the dressing with milk which I did and while the results are delicious, I suppose that Veselka didn’t feel as though they could give all their secrets away in the book!

As a restaurant Veselka is not a one-trick pony. They serve everything from peirogies to bison burgers and their cookbook stays true to the strange range of flavours that are found on their menu. One criticism of the book is that there is an enormous schism in the recipes in terms of the skills that they require from the cook. Recipe books are right to include dishes that require a range of skill, but in The Veselka Cookbook, that range is huge and so is the range in effort that the home cook is required to invest that it can honestly be a little off-putting. As an example, there is a recipe for beet salad that requires just four ingredients and the effort of a quick stir. It is a good recipe and so is the recipe for the borscht, but the borscht is an intensive process that requires hours of time spent in the kitchen. The results are good and there is virtue in having made your own. However, at the end of the day I’m not sure that I wouldn’t rather just go to Veselka and pay the $3.50 for the cup of soup instead of spending an entire day making it from scratch.

Another element of the book where I found fault was with the lack of organization found within its pages. As you flip through the pages, one might think that the latter half of the book is dedicated entirely to dessert because the dessert section of the book, a section which takes up a rather hefty stake of the book’s total real-estate, is right in the middle. Perhaps this criticism is a touch nit-picky but the bottom line is that one would expect there be a little more thought put into the layout so that there is a better overall flow for the reader.

Issues of organization, variety of recipes and the skill schism aside, I find The Veselka cookbook to be a very enjoyable book. Many of the recipes are real gems, the commentary is familiar and lovely – you feel like you know the people who make Veselka so special (seriously, ladies who are your grandmother’s age make 3000 pierogies everyday, how great is that?). Plus, the cookbook gives you the tools to create that same wonderful sense of community and warmth that the restaurant does right in your own home and who wouldn’t want that?


Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Muffins

The cookbook retails for $27.99 in the United States and $35.99 in Canada

The Meyer Lemon Difference

Since Meyer lemons are a unique ingredient that not everyone has seen or used, the citrus fruit is often seen as a pretentious foodie item that is accessible only to the elite but what really makes a Meyer lemon and the conventional ones you see at the grocery store week after week different? Due to the fact that North America seems to be focused on the idea of seasonality of ingredients, it is a bit of a sin to be highlighting Meyer lemons now because their season is technically over. However, the fact is that even if it is not politically correct, Meyer lemons can be found year round if you so desire. What actually makes a Meyer lemon different than your regular grocery store varieties are a couple of characteristics. One, Meyer lemons have a very thin, vibrantly orange-yellow skin; and two, Meyer lemons are much juicer and sweeter than their conventional counterparts. Though they are in season from November to sometimes as late as April, Meyer lemons are not always easily procured. In some parts of the world they are relegated to specialty food stores while other parts highlight them in the produce section of the grocery store – though they may be hard to find, they are certainly worth the wait if you use them in a recipe that will highlight the unique character of their flavor. Meyer lemons make wonderful curds, sorbets or granitas, can be a lovely addition to cakes and tarts and can also be made into delicious marmalades. Though their unique flavor is better suited to sweet dishes, Meyer lemons can also be used in savory dishes like risottos, dressings for salads or vegetables, or as an accompaniment to fish.

Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream

Though I’ve been known to make bagels, cakes, and complex dinners with tons of parts, the truth of the matter is that sometimes I’m a lazy cook. For that reason, I love David Lebovitz’s recipe for Philadelphia-Style Ice Cream. I began making his ice cream a couple years ago out of a fear of making all things custard-like. After pastry school the fear of custard went away but the stress of custard did not – it’s not that it’s hard, it is just a little stressful and sometimes I just want to make ice cream without all the fuss. So for me the perfect solution to the custard-induced stress and the little touch of culinary laziness is Mr. Lebovitz’s ice cream. It is so easy and so delicious and so, so vanilla-y. It is thick and creamy and an amazing go-to recipe to have in one’s repertoire. Also, since this recipe has such a pure vanilla flavour, it lends itself to mix-ins very nicely –try drizzling in a caramel sauce or fresh berries or really anything that tickles your taste buds! The recipe below is one I’ve adapted just a touch from the original recipe in Mr. Lebovitz’s fantastic book The Perfect Scoop.

PHILADELPHIA-STYLE VANILLA ICE CREAM
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk (I use skim with no problem, just use what milk you have in the fridge)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (if you don't like a really sweet ice cream, I'm sure you could decrease this a little bit without too much of a problem)
1 vanilla bean (I use half a bean)
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1 tiny pinch of salt


In a saucepan, combine one cup of the heavy cream, all the sugar, the pinch of salt and the vanilla bean. Warm the mixture until the sugar has dissolved -- it should take just a few minutes on medium heat. When the sugar is dissolved, add the other cup of cream, milk and the vanilla extract and chill the mixture in the fridge till very cold. When the mixture is chilled, pour it into an ice cream maker through a strainer to get rid of the vanilla bean and freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions. It is really that easy. Remember that you can add in fresh fruit or caramel or cookie crumbs into the ice cream maker during the last minute or two of churning.


Serve by itself or as a side to a crisp, crumble or pie, or with your favorite topping.


Served here with a Vanilla-Scented Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

The Survival Series -- The Knives I Couldn't Live Without

The other night I got to thinking, what would happen if I were stranded on a deserted island? Naturally, because my life revolves around my kitchen, I was instantly struck with a fear like no other – what would I do without my favourite kitchen tools?! So that got me thinking, what gadgets could I not live without in my kitchen and what gadgets are just the kitchen’s lipstick? Since I am the kind of lady who does not buy heaps of shoes or makeup or clothes but instead buys kitchen things, going through my survival list could take a long while. As such, I’m going to post a series of entries called ‘The Survival Series’ and divide the information into sections beginning with knives and then moving on weekly to other topics such as cookware, gadgets, electrics and specialty tools.

Personally, I believe heartily in the idea that a good knife can take you far in life. In my opinion, humble as it may be, there are three knives that can get you through most culinary situation you may find yourself in. They are: a small paring knife (three and a half inches or so), a large chef knife (don’t be scared, buy an eight inch and use it like you mean it), and a serrated knife of some form and a decent size (for me this knife is a bread knife). Though my cutlery collection is supplemented with a few other styles of knives, I have found that with these three basic knives, you can do most things in the kitchen.

Having worked in a cooking store for a number of years, I can tell you with a little street cred what a good knife is and what a bad knife is but I’d rather not endorse any company but rather just tell you the knives I think are must haves. Though I personally use Wusthof and Global knives, I’m really not sure how important a brand is when buying the knives because to me, more important than looks and brand name is how the knife feels in your hand. Get one that fits like a glove and spend a little money on it. If you take care of your knives, they will last you for years and years. And one last thought, don’t forget about the sharpening. It is easier to maintain a sharp knife than to sharpen a dull knife so make sure you learn how to use your sharpening steel (yes, that thing that looks like a sword is what you need to maintain your knife’s edge) and find a reliable person to hand sharpen your knives when they are dull. Of course this topic could be a whole other post, but the point is, to make sure that you take care of your knives. If you spend a lot of money on them, they are an investment, and they should be treated with love.

What is FLAVOR PICNIC?

I'm a little new to this thing called blogging and to be honest, I'm still trying to figure out this new medium out. Before I begin, I want to put it out there that there are things that this blog will be and things that it won't be. Since I was an English major with a penchant for comma splices and the occasional sentence fragment, I need to explain to my blog-audience that I'm a habitually bad self-editor and therefore this blog will not be grammatically perfect; it will be entertaining but it won't be perfect.

However, despite my bad grammar, what I hope FLAVOR PICNIC will be is a smorgasbord of food writing in a wide-variety of forms and mediums. My goal with FLAVOR PICNIC is to develop my professional writing voice while not loosing myself. I want to be able to experiment with many different kinds of food writing and so you may not always see consistency in the format of my posts. In addition to a newly found love of food photography that I will share snippets of on this blog, I hope to be able to write on many food topics: cookbook reviews; recipe ideas and inspirations that will show how one ingredient can be used in a number of ways; love letters to my hero Mark Bittman; PICNIC menus; pros and cons of different food equipment; restaurant and food product reviews; and ways in which food has changed our culture. Hopefully by using my skills as a researcher, I can learn and begin to communicate and teach my blog-readers about the roots of the food that we eat everyday without thought.

I realize these are lofty ideas but I hope that with time and patience from those of you who will hopefully become my faithful readers, I can hone my skills and carve out a voice for myself. Thank you for reading and Bon Appetit!