Tagged: soup

Chowders and Soups

Excuse me!  Excuse me!  Pay attention to ME!  Ahem. My Chowders & Soups book is here. IT’S HERE! IN MY HAND! This is the fourth cookbook I’ve done, but the first one that hasn’t been a collection of other chef’s recipes.

Any working cook worth their salt has a repertoire of soups that can be pulled out of the hat to make use of leftovers or trimmings that become the soup of the day. My editor at Nimbus, Patrick (yes, he’s my personal editor. I keep him in a little box next to my computer and he’s allowed out to edit my work.) (Okay, that last part is not true.) So, Patrick & the Nimbus team wanted a book that was signature East Coast–hence the seafood and chowder-centric nature of this particular collection. And, my uber talented photog Scott Munn (he’s also mine, he took the picture for the first article I wrote for the Coast) agreed to shoot the recipes for the book.
Really, I’m beside myself with excitement about it (look, there’s me! there’s me again!)

And then thump! Reality hit in the form of an email listing the dates I would be in bookstores (Hawaii Five-O is on–I can’t believe the Chairman could be the evil Wo Fat, but I digress, because I’ve just finished chiseling away at a block of tempered chocolate that I made bark with over Christmas, clearly not enough bark because there’s too much chocolate left). Bookstores, yes, I must be in bookstores, first for the launch, then to sign stuff and hobnob. I’m not much of a hobnobber, but this book doesn’t have the benefit of the name recognition of the restaurant collection books, and so nob to the hob I must.

And so if you’re up for some hobnobbing, I’ll be at Chapters in Dartmouth on Saturday, May 26, from 1pm-3pm. It’s okay, I’ll be reminding you again. I’ll be bringing soup, because nothing works better than sampling the goods (well, it works for Costco, right?)

Chicken Feet & Steph Domet

Chicken feet. My two Newfoundland dogs love them, and they are wonderful snacks for them-lots of glucosamine, great for big dog joints. Every time I pull some out of the freezer, I climb aboard the same train of thought. Sometimes these trains run to strange stations. When I see chicken feet, I think of how wasteful we can be with food and how we (and by “we”, I’m referring mainly to Canadians and Americans) say “Ew” and gag at the sight of such unappealing fare, yet how many countries put us to shame by using all parts of the animal, even the not so pretty ones.

Chicken feet remind me of Jamaica, where chicken foot soup is enjoyed with relish. And thinking of Jamaican food means that the lovely Ferguson sisters come to mind. Early in my time as food critic with the Coast, I went to investigate a tiny, hole in the wall restaurant on Windmill Road named Sisters from the Caribbean (“Sisters” being the Fergusons), and it was here that I sampled my first Jamaican fare–curried goat, meat pie, red beans and rice, real jerk chicken. I ended up doing a feature piece on the business, not a critical review; it was my first interview piece.

And this is where Stephanie Domet comes in. I was lucky enough to have her as my first editor.  Through her feedback, suggestions, explanations, gentle cajoling, insistence on rewrites, I credit her with bringing out the best in my writing, and my voice. And in this particular piece, she demonstrated a few key points that would help its cohesion and flow, and they were pointers that I remembered, as I did much of her advice, ever after. (Clearly, she has not reviewed this particular blog entry)
Then the train pulls back into the station and I know that every time I pull out a chicken foot, I’ll take this trip again.

canned soup

canned soup

February is not a typical preserving month; there’s neither the sumptuous offerings of the fall harvest, the fresh hopes of the tender spring vegetables, nor the luscious fruits of late summer. But it is cold, and cold weather makes me want to cook warm things, and lots of warm things as I fill pantry shelves as though preparing for hibernation, as though I could stay enveloped in the inside warmth with quilts and flannel pyjamas and fuzzy slippers. And I have the urge to cook for others, to feed people and that’s why I end up with such big batches.
Then out comes the pressure cooker, the bottles and new lids and rings, and the jiggling of the little pressure gauge happily whistling as each batch is sealed into the glass jars, to be opened and enjoyed like a warm internal hug.

back to the blog

So the problem with taking off so much blog time is that all kinds of things happen, and then you don’t know where to start…
Since I last posted, Mix lost Ray Bear and closed after hobbling along a few more painful weeks, and idiotic comments about Bear and fine dining (or “dinning”, as one feisty blogger wrote) abounded.
I did the photo shoot for my soup book with the photographically gifted Scott Munn, and I’m even more exciting about the release next spring.
I had a fabulous evening with a couple of friends, during which I finally opened up a bottle of very, very old balsamic vinegar I got in Italy. Bellisimo!
Knives, my knives, how I’ve neglected them…now, thanks to a local knife sharpening fanatic, they are sharp and happy.
And although I’ve always been diplomatic with regards to other food critics, some recent goings-on have led me to wonder about the state of restaurant reviewing in Halifax.
What the hell has happened to Food Network Canada? How many shows about warring bakers can there be?
And what to do when Fabulous Fishcakes becomes Sustainable and Scrumptious Fishcakes?
More to come on these and other foods for thought in the days ahead.

what do you mean, you’re on a deadline?

dear food4thought,
I know I’ve been a bad blog mommy, neglecting you as of late. But don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you. I’m just finishing up my manuscript on my new book for Nimbus. It’s due on August 1 and I’m in the crunch. I promise I will return to you then, if not before from time to time.
Love, Liz

top chef canada week 8

Andrea is feeling the brunt of being Cookie McBitchy on the line last challenge. Quickfire Challenge?  Team!  Not looking good for Andrea. Francois and Rob are captains. They pick their teams. Andrea is last picked but she’s a force to be reckoned with!  I think she is, totally. The challenge is one of those silly things where they cook one dish per team, over 40 minutes with each cook doing 10 minutes at a time, and not tell their other teammates what they’re making. I didn’t explain that well. I’m tired and my fingers hurt from working on my upcoming book, SOUPS AND CHOWDERS, due next spring.  Hey, if everyone else can pimp their stuff during TCC, so can I.

No more immunity, but there’s a “significant advantage” to the winning team.
MM loves both dishes!  Commercial. Mosquitos. Not on tv, on my monitor. I hate that about this time of year.  It’s a veritable cornucopia of cooking hijinks! Rob’s team did a roesti, so that’s the automatic winner for me. Ummmm, roesti. Rob’s team won!  With Andrea as the lead off hitter! Maybe she’ll get her teamwork cred back.

Restaurant Wars!  The teams for the quickfire are the same teams as for RW.  Todd and Andrea are on the same team (Rob’s) which makes it easy for me to pick a team to root for.
MM has donated Bymark, one team will have the patio and one gets the dining room. Rob’s team gets to pick which they prefer. And the judge for RW is David Adjey, another obnoxious food network personality and “world famous chef” according to our girl Thea.
Red Team is positive, upbeat and cohesive. Blue Team is unhappy, torn, and on edge–Dale is on Blue Team, go figure.
Planning!  Prepping! Chopping! Dicing!  Commercial!
Red Team on the Patio, picked the name To New (Toronto and Newfoundland, for Dustin/Rob/Andrea and Todd)
Blue Team in the main dining room, picked the name By Bleu, because Dale thinks it’s clever. I thought Francois was team leader?  Doesn’t seem like it. And Connie has to go back because she forgot her potatoes, which are a key component in her appetizer. Dale is mad he’s on in on the servers pre meal. Darryl watching the FOH for Blue.
Andrea is FOH for Red. Andrea and Dale are all dressed up!  Handsome! Pretty!
MM has arrived. He wants to make sure Bymark hasn’t burned down or anything. Dale has screwed up Daryl’s dish. Triple D! in a bad way. Now Dale’s yelling–maybe he was made team leader and I missed it?
So they way this is edited, looks like they’re setting up an upset–so far Blue Team is struggling. On Top Chef, last RW same thing happened and the struggling team won. Hope TCC will not be that predictable.
Red Team dishes-canadian contemporary w/a twist
Evil lady customer plant–sends back lamb three times. Are they in the weeds?  Maybe. Judges are served mains. Seem to be split on apps and mains, hard to get a read.  Not on dessert though, dessert was complete failure. Two choices according to Adjey-really really bad and really bad.
Blue Team dishes-fine dining
Not set up, already in the weeds. Judges split on appetizers. Mains, split. Desserts, Dale pooping his pants over something. His souffle is falling. He’s screaming. Oh my, no need of that Dale. You won’t make any friends that way. Desserts–big league!  Ending on high note!
Judges Table!
Prediction–Todd. Both his app and his dessert were unsuccessful. :( Boo-urns. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t remember any of the others striking out completely.
So unless Red Team wins, we’ll be saying Bye, b’y!

Blue Team is called out first–so yes, they win. Predictable. But they dare to criticize Dale’s dish. He looks sour. Now he’s happy because they are praising the souffle.
Winning Dish? Dale and his souffle. Damnit.
Red Team lost. As predicted, Todd is getting beat up. But he’s manly about it!  No sour looks from him, just disappointment in himself.
Judges deliberate to a foregone conclusion. But it’s still hard to hear. Such a class act!  Love you Todd!  REPRESENT!
And everyone loves him and is sad to see him go. They won’t be like that for you Dale!
Next week: President’s Choice infomercial. See you then!