Best Meal for your Money in Toronto

There are no shortage of amazing places to have dinner in this lovely city of ours and at times even trying to make a decision on where to go for dinner can be overwhelming. But in my very humble opinion, one of the best places to get the best value for your dollar is The Depanneur. Every month they hold a couple of fantastic supper clubs where they invite different chefs to create amazing multiple course meals. These meals are served family style giving you the chance to meet other like minded food lovers.

Last month clients at our kitchen, M&T Food Services were the guest chefs and they created a menu inspired by the food of the Ottoman Palace. Dish after dish of traditional food was served and it was such a success that it sold out almost faster than a Rolling Stones concert and a second night was added ;).

If you weren't lucky enough to snag tickets to this amazing supper club, you can still try Murat and Tolga's amazing food by ordering meal delivery from their web site. And if you want to experience one of the great supper clubs at The Depanneur you can sign up for their newsletter and be among the first to know which chef will be appearing next. I can tell you that the next supper club will be both a meal and a magic show. Tell me where else you can get that for $40 a person.

But right here, right now for one very lucky person,  I am giving away a $50 gift certificate to M&T Food Services website. Tell me why you love the local food movement and you could be the winner. (Available only to those who live in the GTA).

The Canning Kitchen

It was a lovely surprise last Friday when a package arrived at my kitchen from Penguin Random House Canada. I immediately tore it open to find this lovely new preserving book inside by Amy Bronee, blogger and author of this lovely canning cookbook. Thank you Random House for thinking of me!

I had an upcoming preserving class at Le Dolci, so thought what better way to test drive a new cookbook than to use one of the recipes with my students. Asparagus are in season, so the Pickled Asparagus Spears Recipe seemed like the obvious choice.

It was a gorgeous Saturday morning and in the class we were going to make Strawberry Balsamic Jam and Pickled Asparagus.

We started off with the Pickled Asparagus for a couple of reasons. One because I love how pickling shows new preservers how simple the whole process can be and that it does not have to be a time consuming or labour intensive. I shared with the class a couple tips with making pickled asparagus.

1. I like to draw lines on my cutting board that show me the different lengths to cut items depending on my jar size. This makes the prep process so much easier.
2. I arrange my spears with tips pointing all in one direction in rows so that you can grab your product quickly and easily when it comes to filling the jars

The class was excited to hear that we were using a new recipe and instagram and tweets were being sent all throughout the class. We even got Amy engaged all the way from Victoria.

Before they knew it the Asparagus was in the jars with their spices and brine and were ready for the hot water bath. Amy's recipe has a nice little twist in that it uses fennel instead of some of the more popular combination of dill and mustard seeds. I imagine when the class opens their jars in the recommended 2-4 weeks that they will be thrilled with the flavour combination.

I look forward to trying a few of the other simple small batch recipes in this cookbook throughout the summer months. If you are interested in getting your hands on The Canning Kitchen the release date is June 9th, 2015 or you can pre-order it here.

Pickled ramps

It's this time of year when ramps begin to poke their lovely greenness up from the ground in parks and forests. They are a wild onion native to North America and are kind of like a cross between an onion and a leek with a strong garlic aroma.

If you are fortunate to stumble across a monster batch of them like the one in the photo above always remember not to be greedy. Take only a small amount as they will not grow back and quantities of wild ramps are diminishing due to over foraging. They should be sustainably picked to ensure the return of the crop the following season.

These little babies make the most amazing pickles which can be used on burgers, cheese plates, chopped up into salads and so much more. Their brine can be added to a small amount of olive oil to make salad dressing. Nothing goes to waste. Which is something that makes me very happy.

But what I have learned over the years of pickling ramps is that not all of it likes to be pickled. And what I mean by that is the green leafy part can turn brown and mushy when preserved in a vinegar brine. I choose to clean my ramps up, cut this part off and turn it into a ramp pesto. 

Pickle what's on the left. Make pesto with the green leaves on the right

One of my favourite pickled ramp recipes is based on a recipe found on Front Door Organics site. I just made them spicier and determined that all of their optional spices in my opinion were required.

Spicy Pickled Ramps

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups pickling vinegar

2 1/4 cups water (distilled if available)

2 cloves of garlic, slivered

3/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 cup pickling salt

1 tsp dill

1/4 tsp whole allspice

1/4 tsp cumin

Preparation

Combine all the ingredients except the ramps in a non reactive pot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil stirring to dissolve the salt completely. Turn off the heat and remove the pan.

Pack the cleaned and trimmed ramp bulbs into hot and previously sterilized jars. Fill with the vinegar solution leaving 1/2" headspace. Be sure to burp your jars and then remeasure the headspace. The wipe the rims and place lids on jars.

Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. 

Yields: approximately 5-250ml jars.

Toronto Rental Commercial Kitchen

It started as a dream 3 years ago and over the past 6 months we have been working hard to make it a reality. A rental kitchen in Toronto where small food producers, chefs, caterers, etc could bake, preserve or create.

Why did I want to open up a commercial kitchen? You may not know this but all food that is produced in Toronto and made available for sale HAS to be produced in a certified commercial kitchen that has been inspected by the City of Toronto. And when I started my preserves company, I quickly discovered that these types of kitchens were very hard to find. It quickly became the biggest challenge in my business and as I spoke with other producers that I met at food shows and farmer's markets, I realized I wasn't alone.

I was very lucky that I found the East Scarborough Storefront and for just over a year I was able to use their fabulous kitchen once a week at NO CHARGE to make my jams, jellies and pickles. And if you happen to live in the KGO (Kingston, Galloway, Orton Park) area you should definitely acquaint yourselves with all of the wonderful work they do and the amazing services they provide. 

And then I got lucky for a 2nd time; one of the stores that carries my products allowed me to use the kitchen in their basement. SCORE! It had 2 - 10g steam kettles and really allowed me to increase my productivity and batch up my recipes.

But even with access to these 2 wonderful kitchens, which is more than a lot of food producers manage to find, it was limited and my business could not grow fast enough to keep up with demand. My husband and I knew it was time to really push ahead on our dream of Toronto's rentable commercial kitchen space.

But building a commercial kitchen is EXPENSIVE and we knew we would need some help making it a reality. So in late September we launched our kickstarter campaign. We reached our goal (thank you, thank you, thank you) and it has been full speed ahead ever since.

Below shows you some of the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into the space.

The very first step was to ensure that the floor in the main kitchen space was food space. This involved degreasing the existing floor, sanding it down, and painting it several times with a food safe apoxy that left it shining.

The existing space was set up as a cafe/coffee shop so we started by tearing out their seating, removing the 3 pc bathroom and building the great wall of canning.

Progression of the space from cafe to 2nd rental kitchen and Manning Canning production space

During the construction, we were also sourcing all of the equipment for the kitchen, buying expensive transformers, working with master electricians, dealing with water outages. But each hurdle we came up against, and each hurdle we jumped took us that much closer to the finished product.

The hunt for the equipment

Today for the first time after many months of hard work, set backs, picking ourselves up all over again, painting and then painting some more along with a few other things thrown in there for good measure - my team and I worked in the brand new kitchen for the first time.

And it was GLORIOUS! We didn't have to carry all of the ingredients and tools we needed down a flight of stairs and soon I will transfer all of my preserving tools into the kitchen and I will be able to walk from my vehicle to the kitchen with nothing but my keys in my hand.

And the great thing is that we have created a space that makes this possible for other people as well. It has been amazing being able to see and SMELL all of the wonderful goodies the people using our kitchen have created.

Producers putting the kitchen to the test

Can I reduce the sugar in this jam recipe?

Can I reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe?

It's a pretty common question in my preserving classes because a lot of people are interested in learning how to preserve BECAUSE they are interested in controlling the type of ingredients they are consuming. I love preserving for this very reason as well. I can preserve ripe organic Ontario peaches in August in a low sugar syrup and know that when I open that jar I am not consuming anything that I don't want to be eating.

So when a new preserver starts to look at a lot of jam and jelly recipes their initial reaction is to be shocked that they contain such high levels of sugar. But once you understand the role of sugar in preserving and what happens when you decide to reduce the sugar you can start to make educated decisions on when you want to reduce the sugar, substitute some of all of the sugar for honey, etc.

In this short video, I talk about the role of sugar in preserving and what you need to know about reducing it in recipes you find.

What is headspace, suspension, etc....

I get a lot of questions about preserving terms and what they mean. For me, they are second nature. I have been hearing about headspace and suspension for years. But for those of you that are just starting to preserve here are some common preserving terms defined for you!

Apple Onion Relish with Ale

It is almost the end of 'comfort food' season. That's what I like to call winter. The time of year when it is cold outside and all I want to eat are cheesy carbohydrate-y,  packed with meat style meals. Whether that is a big bowl of spaghetti, my Aunt's fabulous meatloaf, or my personal favourite - a grilled cheese sandwich.

Now that the weather is warming up, my taste buds are already starting to transition to lighter fare but before that transition is complete I wanted to make one more batch of Apple Onion Relish and send this season off with a bang!

Apple Onion Relish with Ale

Ingredients

6 cups chopped onions

4 tbsp kosher salt

2.5 cups dark brown sugar

2 tbsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cinnamon (ground)

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1.5 cups cider vinegar

1.5 cups ale

5 cups peeled and chopped apples (your choice)

5 cups peeled and chopped tart apples (your choice)

Instructions

In a medium sized non-reactive bowl, place your chopped onions and sprinkle the 4 tbsp of salt. Mix thoroughly and let sit for at least an hour. Drain the onions through a fine mesh sieve pushing down to drain as much liquid from them as possible.

Place the sugar, mustard seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg and vinegar into a medium sized pot over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium high and then add the onions and the first 5 cups of apples as well as the 1.5 cups of beer. Bring this to a boil, stirring regularly. Then reduce the heat and simmer until the apples soften and break down. The mixture will have thickened by this point (10-20 minutes).

Stir in the last 5 cups of apples and simmer until the apples soften slightly and the mixture thickens. You may want to stop cooking this before you can drag a spoon across the bottom of the pot and leave a trail that does not fill in immediately, as the apples will continue to absorb moisture in the jar after water bath canning.

Ladle into previously sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims with a damp cloth and place the lid and threads on the jars. Process for 10 minutes. 

Yields 10-12, 250ml jars.

Mad for Marmalade

Every February for the past 8 years, there is a magical event that takes place at Fort York. I discovered it 3 years ago and have made it a must go to event ever since.

You walk into the barracks at Fort York and are instantly awed at the beauty of your surroundings. Not only is Fort York an amazing space for an event, but the volunteers pull together an extremely well organized day filled with great workshops, interesting speakers, tonnes of great door prizes and of course, the marmalade competition.

It will come as no surprise that the marmalade competition was what drew me to this event initially and it was the first event I ever entered. I was thrilled to walk away with two 2nd place ribbons. 

Last year I gave one of the workshops and this year I was chosen to be one of the judges for the competition. My partner in judging the Citrus Preserves category was a Tom Boyd. Tom is an avid preserver and has won numerous ribbons at The Royal Winter Fair, his most recent being 1st place for his Pear Ginger Lime Marmalade. 

We had the extremely difficult job of trying at least 8 different preserves made with citrus. Marmalade with Whisky, Pink Grapefruit marmalade with Brandy...my tastebuds were in heaven.

But my knees went weak when we had to judge best in show and we got to taste the Baking with Marmalade category. This pie had a crust that has been imprinted on my tastebuds for eternity.

Congratulations to all the marmalade winners, thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers who pull this event together. I thoroughly enjoy being a part of such a great citrus-y day and highly recommend you marking it in your calendar for next February.

Raspberry Bourbon Vanilla Jam

Three of my favourite words are in the name of this jam. Seriously, how could anything that includes raspberries, bourbon and vanilla bean not be a delight for your tastebuds. 

Raspberry Jam will forever be my favourite jam to make. Not only because I absolutely adore raspberries, but also because it was one of the first jams I learned how to make and whenever I make it I almost feel like I am a teenager once again back in my nona's kitchen.

This jam, while still delicious on your morning toast, croissant or bagel is almost more suited in my mind to be paired with ice cream, layered between chocolate cake or used as icing on a cupcake. But I leave it to you if you even want to do anything more with it than eat it straight from the jar with a spoon.

The recipe provides a range for how much bourbon you can use and the decision is completely up to you. I will just say that in my last preserving class when samples were given out and I advised the class that what they were eating was the full bourbon recipe, the decision was unanimous that we should make the batch with the full cup ;).

Raspberry Bourbon Vanilla Jam

Ingredients

600g raspberries (fresh or frozen)

3.5 cups sugar

1/2 cup - 1 cup bourbon

2 vanilla beans split and scraped

Instructions

Heat the raspberries in a small saucepan over medium heat and mash until they start to release their juices.

Add the sugar and stir until it fully dissolves, then add the bourbon and both vanilla beans and increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Check for set. Once you have reached the desired set, turn off and remove from heat.

Skim off any remaining foam, remove the vanilla beans and ladle into previously sterilized jars. Leave ¼” head space. Place in a hot water bath for 10 minutes

How to reprocess a jam or a jelly

You are all familiar with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. She didn't want to sleep on a bed that was too hard and she didn't want to sleep on a bed that was too soft. She wanted one that was 'just right' and she kept going until she got what she wanted.

Well just because you made a batch of jam or jelly only to realize a short while later that it did not set, doesn't mean you have to open up those jars and pour all of your hard work away. There are options. You can reprocess your product until it too is, just right.

As I mentioned in a previous post, you can always just repurpose your jam and pour it over your pancakes in the morning instead of spreading it on toast. But it's a little harder to do that with a jelly.

Reprocessing your jam or jelly is simple to do. And in this short video, I will show you how. Hope it helps save your batch!