Pumpkin Soup

Here's the best pumpkin soup recipe ever, invented by Loris.   We had an amazing pumpkin (potion) soup at a French vineyard for lunch --- smooth, fluffy, with a second soup of mushroom, again fluffy and cream, and then fine shreds of proscuitto on top.  

This one is quite different but even more delicious.

Ingredients:
Bacon, 3 strips, cut into lardons
Half large yellow onion, chopped
Olive oil (if needed)
2 cups pumpkin, cut into small chunks
Fresh basil
Bay leaf
Sea salt
1/2 cup creme fraiche

Instructions:
In a large pot, render the bacon.
Add oil if needed, add onions, and sauté until soften.
Add 1-1/2 cups water.
Add fresh basil, chopped.
Add bay leaf.
Bring to a boil, and simmer 20 minutes.  Remove from heat.
Blend with an immersion blender.  
Taste and add salt.
Add 1/2 cup creme fraiche, and whisk in.

Duck Breasts a l'orange

Duck is as common in France as chicken is in North America.   Buying chicken here can be a challenge, not sure why.   Duck on the other hand, in all sorts of forms, is on every menu, lunch and dinner, in restaurants.   We are so spoiled here.

We made this last night, adapting Laura Calder's recipe.   Orange sauce sounds so "Madmen", and I expected a gluey sweet sauce, but this recipe is sensational and orange really complements duck.   Using the orange zest is the key.

Ingredients:
2 duck breasts
4 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp water
4 large oranges
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2/3 cup stock
2 Tbsp. butter
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:
Take the duck breasts out of the frig.  Heat a saute pan on low heat.  While waiting for the pan to heat, with a sharp chef's knife, score the fat side of each breast diagonally into diamond shapes.
Put the duck breasts in the pan fat side down and fry gently to render the fat out for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the oranges.  Set a kettle of water to boil.  Get a sieve and bowl ready.
With a small sharp knife, cut off the zest of one orange in wide strips, leaving behind most of the white pith.   Lay out the zest strips on a board and, with a large chef's knife, julienne or cut it into 1/8-inch strips and put them into the bowl.   Pour boiling water over the zest and drain through the sieve.  Repeat two more times.
Squeeze 2/3 cup orange juice.   Segment 2 of the oranges.   You will now have a bowl of blanched zest, a bowl of juice, and a bowl of orange segments.

Remove breasts from the pan after 10 minutes and drain the fat out of the pan.  Turn the heat up to medium, put the duck breasts back in the pan fat side down.   Cook fat side 7 minutes, turn over and cook for another 5 minutes.   Remove to a piece of foil and wrap tightly to rest and keep warm.

While cooking the duck, make the orange sauce.   In a small sauce pan, cook the sugar and water for 3-5 minutes (until golden), stirring constantly.  
Add the orange zest, vinegar, stock, and orange juice and cook down, stirring often.  Stir in the butter.
Finally, add the orange segments and heat through.  
Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Carve the duck breasts into slices and place on platter.  
Pour orange sauce over and serve.

Blanquette de Veau

Another wonderful French dish is veal with a creamy sauce.   It did not appeal to me until I tasted it in several restaurants.   So here is our version, which was excellent.


Ingredients:
1-2 pounds veal, well marbled
Oil
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cups mushrooms, small, whole
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried or fresh thyme or 3 cloves 
1 cup white wine 


1 cup creme fraiche
1 egg yolk
juice of 1 lemon


Instructions:
Heat a large dutch oven on medium.   Heat oil.
Brown the pieces of veal in batches.
Add 1-1/2 cups water and 1 cup wine.
Add vegetables and flavourings.
Bring to a simmer and cook 2 hours.
Take the pot off the heat and cool for 10 minutes.
Mix creme fraiche, egg yolk, and lemon juice in a separate bowl.
Add to the meat and stir.  If you add the creme to the hot liquid too zoon, it will curdle.
Serve with rice or noodles.

Plum Jam "Pluma Butta"

My memories of plum jam mum made when I was growing up are so clear I can taste the jam.   It had the plum skins in it and it tasted very plummy --- like nothing I've had since.   In those days, we ate a lot of jam, with toast, and "reische twiback".

So dad and I made some in September and it turned out great.   We had to use prune plums because no wild plums were available.   Everybody says the best plum jam is made with wild plums.   I guess I have to move back to Manitoba to get this type of food.

You have to use plums that are on the green side to get the tartness and you have to use the skins and stones for flavour and pectin.  Also, do not overcook so you will get mush, not chunks.

Bev and Bernie's Plum Jam

Ingredients:
4 cups (generous) of halved Italian prune plums, including skin and stones
3/4 cup water
2 cups white sugar

Instructions:
Put all the plums and water in a large pot.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes stirring occasionally but not too vigorously so that the plums stay in chunks.
Add 2 cups sugar and simmer for another hour, stirring gently but often to prevent burning.
Cool over night.

Boeuf Bourguignon

Loris made this perfect Boeuf Bourguignon for us in our kitchen in the south of France.  
For the beef, select pieces with good marbling and attached fat if possible.
The red wine should be a wine you like to drink.   The heavier French wines (syrah, grenache) such as Corbieres, are perfect for this purpose.   There are numerous reasonably priced wines available in the Languedoc region from any wine shop.


Ingredients:
1-2 pounds beef steak, cut into 1-inch to 1-1/2-inch chunks
Sel de fleur (gris) 
Freshly ground pepper
Flour
Olive oil
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 large onion, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups mushrooms, small, whole
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 beef boullion cube
2 carrots, chopped
Dried or fresh thyme
Dried or fresh bay leaf


Instructions:
Cut the beef into 1 x 2 inch.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.   Sprinkle with  about 1 Tbsp. flour.
Heat a frying pan on medium high, and when the edge is hot, add a generous amount olive oil and heat.
Add the meat to the pan and brown all sides.   While browning the meat, chop up half a large onion.
Put the browned meat into a heavy casserole dish with a lid.
Keep the frying pan on medium high, and deglaze the frying pan half cup red wine and half cup water.   
Add the chopped onion, mushrooms, garlic cloves, peeled and smashed, and the half beef bouillon cube.   When bouillon cube is melted, pour everything into the casserole over the meat.
Add two chopped carrots 1/2 inch, 3 sprigs thyme and 1 bay leaf (dried or fresh)
Cover and put into oven at 400 degrees F for 1 hour.   The liquid will dry up and the meat will caramelize.   Make sure it doesn't burn.
Add 1 cup water and turn the heat down to 250.   
Cook another 3 hours.   Check every hour for liquid and add water if needed.

Chicken Soup for Colds

This soup is perfect for when you are sick or any time.  You will need chicken, onion, carrots, and potatoes, but if you don't have the rest, just use salt and pepper.  It only takes about half an hour to make.  The garlic and parsley help you get well but if you are sick at home, and don't have them, just go ahead without.  

Ingredients:

Chicken thighs (or other pieces) with skin and bone (2 per person)
1 onion
2-4 carrots
1-4 yellow potatoes (Yukon gold, Island Amber, German)
Sea salt
Whole peppercorns, allspice, star anise, bay leaf.  
Fresh garlic, 2-4 cloves, peeled
Fresh flat leaf parsley 

Instructions:

Fill a pot half full with fresh cold water.

Add the chicken, salt, garlic cloves, and the whole spices in a spice or tea ball (or small piece of cloth or gauze).  Simmer until the chicken is partially cooked.

Meanwhile, chop the onion, carrots, and potatoes into bite-size pieces.   Add the onion, carrot, and potato, and simmer until vegetables are cooked.  

Remove the chicken, cut into small pieces and add back to the pot.  Remove the spice ball. 

Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve and get well.

Tony's Roast Duck with Cherry Sauce

This is from the Sunday Afternoon Food Club at Wanderlust.   Great with fresh local cherries.

Ingredients:
1 or 2 ducks
Orange juice
2 lemons
5 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
Fresh local cherries, pitted and halved
Port
Ginger, grated
Lemon zest and juice
Orange zest and juice

Instructions:
Put the duck into a large pot of water with the spices, orange juice and lemons and boil gently for 6 minutes.   This will
Roast the ducks with foil over them (to keep the grease from coating your oven) for 30 minutes at 425 degrees F and another 30 minutes at 300 degrees F.
The ducks will become very crisp and golden brown.
Remove the ducks and set aside to rest.
Meanwhile, make the fresh cherry sauce.
Simmer cherries in port, grated ginger, lemon zest and juice, and orange zest and juice.
Pull apart the duck or chop into pieces and serve drizzled with cherry sauce.

Eggplant Bartha (Akbar's)

I scored this recipe at Akbar's a few weeks ago but have not tried it yet.

Ingredients:
1 large purple eggplant
ginger
garlic
Onions
Tomatoes, chopped fine
Salt
Red chilis
Coriander
Cumin

Instructions:
Bake the eggplant in the oven at 360 degrees F for 30 minutes until it is soggy and shriveled.
Peel and mash the eggplant.
Chop onions very fine.
Heat oil in pan, and saute onions until soft.
Grate in ginger and garlic and saute another minute.
Add the eggplant, tomatoes and spices.
Cook for another 5 minutes.

Turnip and Carrot with Dill

When I was travelling in Italy this year, I was surprized at the number of fellow tourists (usually Brits) who mentioned how they missed their vegetables.   It was heart warming, because I despair at the number of people who won't eat vegetables or salads.  

I absolutely love turnips and carrots together.   They enhance each other.

Turnips and Carrots

Ingredients:

1 small turnip (officially a rutabaga, the yellow turnip with purple skin at the top)
5-6 carrots (approximately the same amount of turnip and carrot)
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Fresh dill (optional)

Instructions:
Peel and cut the turnip into 1/2-inch pieces.
Cut the unpeeled trimmed carrots into 1/2-inch pieces.
Cook in salted water until soft.
Drain and add 2-3 Tbsps. of butter, salt and pepper, and some chopped fresh dill.
Mash with a potato masher into a rough mash.

BC Spot Prawns with Citrus Olive Oil

I made this one last night and it turned out really great.   It is worthwhile making the poaching liquid but you can't use the shells for broth.  

I bought 3 pounds of live spot prawns at T & T.   Allister beheaded them (tearing the heads off works best).  

Ingredients:
3 pounds live spot prawns
1 lemon
1 orange
1 lime
6 garlic cloves
sea salt
pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions:
Tear the heads off the prawns and set aside.
Zest the orange, lemon and lime.  You can cut the peel in strips or use a grater to zest.
Squeeze the juice out of the orange, lemon and lime.
Put the oil into a large pan along with the juice and zest.  Grate in the garlic cloves.
Slowly heat the mixture to medium.
Add the prawns and toss for 3-4 minutes (they should be medium rare).
Serve in a low dish with the sauce from the pan, which is lovely over boiled Yukon potatoes.

Palak Paneer -- The Best

Akbar's on Broadway makes the best Palak Paneer --- I love the smooth consistency.   Our waiter cheerfully provided the recipe and we tried it with great success.
It is a bit of a fuss, but cooked spinach is yucky so this recipe is worth it.

Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh spinach --- about one big box
Sea salt
Garlic (2 cloves)
Ginger (1 inch piece)
Small onion, very finely chopped or grated
1 tsp. ground cumin
Garam masala (1 tsp each ground cinnamon, coriander, cardamon, pepper)1/2 pound paneer
Ground red chili


Instructions:
Cook the spinach for 20 minutes with a bit of salt.
Blend the spinach until smooth.
Heat the pan on medium.   Add oil.
Grate garlic and ginger and fry for a minute.
Add the onion and fry until golden brown.Add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes.   Add a little water if necessary.
Add the paneer and cook.   You can also fry the paneer until golden separately.
Remove from the pan into a bowl.
Mix oil and 1 tsp chili in the hot pan and pour over the spinach.

La Bourride (Garlic Fish Stew) Update from France

Loris and I made this fish stew last night --- and it was fantastic.   We couldn't stop thinking about how good it was.   It was easy too, although some of the techniques were new to us, so having two cooks was great.

We have fish and seafood theme for this visit, and we started the week with Halibut with Sesame Oil and Chili, followed the next day by Grilled BC Spot Prawns.   We made stock with the prawn heads and shells. We got our prawns live at T & T Market on Abbott and our halibut from Stongs.


The third day, we made this extraordinary stew following the recipe in The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan.   We are going to spend three months in Languedoc this year so we chose a recipe from that region.

You can use a variety of fish but we chose two firm fish --- one white and one pink. You need at least half a pound of fish per person or serving.   We got our fish at Finest at Sea on Arbutus.   If you use less firm fish, add the tender fish after the firm fish and cook it for a shorter time.

The following recipe makes two bowls of stew but you can easily increase it.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound sockeye salmon
1/2 pound ling cod
1/2 cup aioli
2 croutes
olive oil
1 bouquet garni
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1 strip of orange zest
1 garlic clove, unpeeled and crushed
3 cups fish stock
1/2 onion, diced
salt and pepper
2 egg yolks

Instructions:
Make the fish stock the day before or use stock from your freezer (see below).
Make the aioli (see below).
Make the croutes (see below).
Wash and dry the fish, and cut it into 3/4 inch chunks.
Make the bouquet garni and prepare spices.   I used a spice ball for the fennel seeds, garlic, and orange zest and tied the bouquet garni with a piece of cloth.   You could also tie all the spices and herbs in a piece of cheesecloth.  I used summer savory, parsley, and dill for the bouquet garni, but you could use almost any herbs (e.g. fresh bay leaf, thyme).
Chop the onion.
Add the bouquet garni, other flavourings, onion, and stock to a large pot, and bring to a boil.  
Add the fish and simmer for 8 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the fish to a side plate and cover with foil.
Whisk the aioli with the egg yolks in a medium bowl.  Whisk some of the hot fish broth into the aioli and then stir the mixture into the pot on very low heat, whisking constantly until it thickens to the consistency of cream.   Do not let it get too hot or it will curdle.
Ladle broth into warmed bowls.  Add pieces of fish, set a croute on top, and serve.
If you have more than enough for one bowl each, serve the broth in a warmed tureen, the croutes and the fish on separate platters.   

Fish Stock
Save the prawn heads and shells.
Put them in a large stainless steel pot.
Add cold tap water.
Simmer for an hour.
Cool and refrigerate until you need it.  
Pour the stock through a large sieve or colander into a large pottery or glass bowl.
Measure out what you need and freeze the rest, by pouring the stock into your largest glass measuring cup and then into glass jars.

Aioli
Aioli is olive oil mayonnaise with garlic and is good with grilled fish and Bourride.
Ingredients:
Makes 3/4 cup, which is more than enough for the Bourride recipe.  You can double the recipe.
1 egg yolk
1 garlic clove, mashed with side of knife
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
Instructions:
Put the garlic clove on a cutting board and mash and scrape with the side of your chef knife with a bit of salt to aid the mashing process, until you have a mush.   Pounding the garlic like this develops the flavour.  (You can also pound all the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle.)
Put the garlic, egg yolk, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a medium pottery or glass bowl.
Add the oil in a very slow thin stream, while whisking constantly.
Taste and adjust seasoning with more garlic, lemon juice, salt or pepper.   The sauce should be thick enough to stand a spoon in it.
Measure out what you need for the Bourride and store the rest in the frig for no more than 12 hours.   (Before stirring cold aioli, bring it to room temperature or it may separate.)

Croutes
Toast 2 -1/2 inch slices of good bread and toast.  You can use a baguette or any other bread.   We used Florin's country bread from Beyond Bread on 4th (the best bakery in town by a large margin).
Drizzle toasted bread with olive oil.  
Set aside until the stew is done.


Notes from France:
I made this soup here in France with lotte (monkfish) for the white fish.   This is a very firm but tender white fish, delicious flavour.  I had it in a restaurant with cream sauce with ceps and   chanterelles and girolles, eggplant park, and chestnuts.   Had to find it in the market and buy some.   Fresh fish markets are fabulous --- soooo fresh, and the market stall owners are very helpful.    Here in Saint Pierre, there are fresh oysters, mussels, and shrimp available every day in the open air market on the sea front.   
We made the aioli with local purple garlic, local olive oil, and local eggs.   It was so good, we spread the leftovers from the soup on meat, sandwiches, pate.   In the market here, there is an olive lady who sells olive oil too.   You taste them all first before buying.   The fresh green olives are sooo good.   You store them in water the minute you get home and eat them within a month.   The black olives, you store in oil, and eat them within a year.   They are swimming in enormous vats, and they lady dips them out with a large dipper and pops them into a plastic bag.   I have them every day with gin and tonic around 5 pm.

Homemade Brie

After a year of waiting for the right time, I made my first lovely rounds of Brie about 3 days ago.   I have to wait 4-6 weeks to try it.  

Diary notes --
April 20 -- made the curd and put into molds to drain (finished at 2 am)
April 22 -- dredged in kosher salt and put into the frig on upside down saucers in the box cave with lid fully on (it is a loose fit)
April 23-29 -- I wiped out the boxes and flipped cheeses daily.  I changed the saucers to a cheese mat that had been through the dishwasher on about April 25.  Very anxious, keep rereading the recipes, and trouble shooting guide.
April 29 -- I tested both thermometers in an ice bath.   The socalled dairy thermometer from Glengarry showed slightly above zero, the other one, quite a bit below.  
April 30 -- finally, the first sign of white mold.   No sign of the bad molds i.e. pel de chat, or red stuff.   Turned the frig temperature down today to see if that helps (it didn't).   I put a thermometer in the frig.  
June 9 -- the cheeses are soft now and ready to eat.   The results are delicious but the inside is very runny.   The outside is thick and firm.   It is either the curd was too moist or the ripening cave was too humid, or the saran wrap was not the right wrap. 
June 15 approx. -- found cheese wrappers at Les Amis du Fromage.
June 25 -- ate the second cheese.   The flavour was more developed.   The cheeses are very salty too -- next time, less salt.

The problem with cheesemaking and many other food manufacturing projects, is that you have to have seen the techniques performed, not only tasted the results.   I have pored over 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes by Debra Amrein-Boyes, attended David Rotszstain's cheesemaking workshop, read the Glengarry Cheesemaking instruction book, researched online extensively, and watched some videos from the library, but I am still puzzled by some of the instructions and stymied when things go wrong.   So much is taken for granted in written instructions, no matter how detailed.   There are also not many photographs in the book I have or online.   Online information focusses on the "easy" fresh cheeses.   There is also a scarcity of information about what to do when things are not right.   The "trouble shooting" guide in the cheese making book only gives the causes, not what to do.  

I am going to try to write this in so much detail that you can do it too.

The milk -- all the books say use non-homo raw milk if you can get it.  Otherwise, the freshest whole milk from the store.   So check the date on the milk and buy the freshest and buy it the day you are going to use it.   I used store milk.   Lucerne is the only brand I will not use for anything.  

The supplies and equipment --I ordered a Brie kit from Glengarry Cheesemaking in Ontario.  Store the powders in the freezer.   Once opened, close tightly and store in a ziploc bag.

Sanitation

Equipment:
Large stainless steel pot
Dairy thermometer
Large SS spoon
4 little glass bowls to mix the cultures
Large SS ladle
Large SS skimmer
Long knife, for cutting curds
Camembert molds (2), or use 1 litre yogurt containers with holes punched with a paper punch in the sides and bottom
Cheese matting (or bamboo matting)
Small plates or saucers
Plastic cutting boards
Metal cooling racks
Paper towels
Clean tea towels and apron
Cheese draining/ripening box (2 are useful) -- these are simple plastic storage boxes that are food safe (look for number 5 on the box).  
Kosher salt

If I do this again, I will try to get away from the plastic.   Our grandmothers had no plastic, no thermomete, paper towels, dryers, dishwashers, etc.    The lady I saw making cheese over an open fire in Italy certainly had nothing like this.    She had her cheeses ripening in a mesh cage out in the yard.

Ingredients:
4 litres of whole milk
Mesophilic II, 1/8 tsp. dry powder
Rennet, 3/8 tsp. dissolved in cool water

Calcium Chloride, 3/8 tsp. (if store milk is used i.e. homogenized milk)
Penicilium candidum, 3/8 tsp. mixed with a little milk

Instructions:
The cheesemaking day --
Do not plan any other baking or cooking.   Do not allow any pets in the kitchen.   Minimize the people coming in and out of the house and kitchen.  

Clean the kitchen top to bottom to get rid of bacteria and mold floating around and coating every surface.   If you normally keep a clean kitchen with no dust or crumbs in the corners, this should not take long.   Scrub the sink and faucet and counters and work table with soap and hot water.   Anything that has not been cleaned or laundered recently should be considered contaminated.  

Put everything away in the cupboards.  Wipe the counters and anything on the counters with hot water and soap. Wipe the stove knobs,  cupboard knobs, and frig handle.   Use a clean cloth or fresh j-cloth for cleaning as otherwise you will simply be spreading around the mold and bacteria.   Cleaning with soap and water will not sterilize anything but it will make contamination less likely.   The things that touch the milk and cheese must be sterilized.   Consider a dish cloth or tea towel to be dirty unless it is freshly washed and dried in a hot dryer.

Once you have finished the kitchen cleaning, and sterilized the cheese utensils, use only clean dish cloths and paper towels throughout the cheesemaking operation.   Wash your hands after touching anything that is not sterilized (many many times).  

Put the draining/ripening boxes and their lids, the plastic cutting boards, the molds, the matting, the metal racks, the ladle, skimmer, and spoon into the dishwasher with no other dishes.   Air dry on paper towels.   Don't use wooden spoons or cutting boards.

Wash the knife and dairy thermometer with hot soapy water, rinse and air dry.

Sterilize the milk heating pot by boiling a few inches of water in it for 5 minutes with lid on.

Wash your dairy tea towels and aprons in a separate load and dry in a hot dryer.  

Heating the milk --
Pour the milk into the sterilized pot and turn the element on medium low.   Slowly heat the milk to 31 degrees C, stirring regularly to prevent scorching the bottom.   Insert the dairy thermometer at least 2 inches into the milk to monitor the temperature.   The milk will heat slowly but will hold the heat at the correct temperature for a long time.   Once the milk is at 31 degrees, add the following:

- Mesophillum II
- rennet
- penicillum
- calcium chloride


Stir by slipping the skimmer below the surface and gently pulling it up and down without breaking the surface [why?].  I was too tired and didn't do this right.

The milk and curd must be handled gently throughout all the stages.   Stir slowly, do not move the pot quickly.

Let the pot stand with a towel wrapped around it.   The milk will remain at the right temperature.   If it cools below 31 degrees, put the element on for 20 seconds and turn off.  It will take 45 minutes to 90 minutes for the milk to form curd. 

Test the curd for a clean break.   The whey should be starting to separate around the edges and on top.  Don't hurry if it is not ready, just wait if it is not a clean break.   Clean break test -- slip your knife into the cheese and pull up horizontally through the surface of the cheese.   The edge of the break must be clean and straight with no edges that are bumpy. 

Cut the curd --
Using the long knife, make the first set of cuts vertically top to bottom, cutting into 1/2 inch wide rows, moving slowly.  Wait for curds to get stronger.   The aim is strong large curds that are not lost in when the whey drains off. 
Do the second vertical cut, across the first cuts like a chequer board, 1/2 inch apart.  Wait.
Take the skimmer, slip it under the surface in the middle, turn your arm to rotate the skimmer about 1/2 inch under the surface, cutting the curds into 1/2 inch pieces.   The next turn, go 1/2 deeper, until the whole pot is cut into 1/2 curds.   If a few are bigger, it is not a problem.  
Stir the curds very very gently.   If the curd is strong and the edges are molded, this is good.  Let the curds sit to let them get stronger.   They are strong enough when the edges are slightly rounded.

Whey off --  
This means ladling off the whey with the ladle.  Push the ladle gently into the curds and let the whey run into the ladle.   You can put the whey into another pot to make into ricotta or a jar to use for bread baking.   I tried and mine did not make ricotta.  

Prepare draining box and molds --
Get the molds and draining container ready in advance (while heating the milk).   I used two set ups.   For the first one, I put 2 small round cake cooling racks into a plastic storage or shoe box, put the plastic cutting board on top, then a plastic cheese draining mat, then one mold.   Because you have to flip the molds, you can't put two molds on one mat.  

For my second draining assembly I used an upside down bowl in the lid of the plastic box.   I put the plastic draining mat over that, and then the mold. 

You do need the board under the mat so that the curds so not drain away with the whey.

Using the skimmer, ladle the curds into the molds.   Fill them to the top.   4 litres of milk will fill two molds.   If the curds won't fit into the two molds, wait until the curds drain down and then fill the molds, until it all fits in.   Put clean tea towels over everything to keep things floating or flying around out of it.  

Wait two hours, and turn the molds as follows.   Take another cutting board or a clean plate and put the bottom of the plate on top of the mold.  Lift the cheese matting and mold and the plate together and flip the whole thing.   Then slip the cheese matting back under the cheese in the mold.   Flip again in two hours, then again in two hours. 

The next morning, flip the molds again.  

Salt the cheese and put in cave --
After 24 hours in the molds, salt the cheeses and put them into the ripening box (cave).   The purpose of the salt is to help dry the cheese. Get the ripening box (plastic storage box with lid) ready.   Use either a clean set-up of rack/board/mat or clean upside down saucers.   Since I did not have another clean rack/board/mat set-up, I used the saucers for the first two days.   After I put the draining box and matting  through the dishwasher, I switched plastic matting for the saucers for better air circulation and mold growth.   I have noticed some Camembert size metal racks in an online site, but have not found a source. 

Put a half cup of kosher salt on a plate.   Take the molds off the cheeses.   Dredge both sides of the cheeses and roll the edges in the salt.   You can use your freshly wash and paper towel dried hands.   Don't touch anything in the kitchen before touching the cheeses.  Shake off the excess salt.    David said not to be afraid to use lots of salt, i.e. dredge the cheeses, but Debra says use only 1 tsp per side.   Apparently, too much can slow the growth of the mold.  

Put the cheese into the ripening box, put the lid on (leave slightly ajar if the lid is tight).  Place in the frig or other cave if you have one that is the right temperature (10-12 degrees C and 90% humidity). 

Every day, wipe the whey from the bottom of the box with a paper towel, and flip the cheeses.    The white mold should develop in 5 to 12 days.   Mine took 7 days to start seeing the white mold.   Flip daily after the mold starts to make sure the mold grows over the whole cheese.

Once the cheese is covered in mold, wrap in cello paper or saran and store in the frig or case at 10-12 degrees C.   It is ready when the centre is soft under the thumb. 

What you do not want is long grey mold (pal de chat) or red mold.  

Ripening wil take 4-6 weeks after that.

Halibut with Sesame and Chili

It's halibut season on the coast, and the stores are full of fresh pearly filets.   At Finest at Sea, I saw well dressed Asian women buying massive pieces of halibut.    This store has its own fishing boats and all the fish is super fresh.   It's pricey but very high quality.   Their anchovies are the best.  For better prices, check T and T Market on Abbot in Chinatown.  

This recipe is an adaptation of one I saw in the newspaper and it's the perfect way to serve halibut.   My small filet was sooo juicy and tasty.

The sesame seed oil must be from an Asian store with Asian language writing on it.   It should be a darkish colour and it should be fresh and very fragrant.   Keep it in the frig as it goes off quickly.   Use a good brand of Mexican chili.

Ingredients:
Halibut filet for each person (6-8 oz each)
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
EVOO
Sesame seed oil
Chili powder (sweet)

Instructions:
Heat the frying pan on medium, and then add a good amount of oil.
Meanwhile, dry the fish and season with salt and pepper.
Put the stove fan on to remove odors and grease.
Put the fish into the pan when the oil is hot and leave it alone for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix 2 tsp. sesame oil and 1 tsp. chili powder per person in a small bowl.
When the fish lifts up easily, turn it over and cook another 3 minutes or until there is about 1/8 inch of  uncooked in the middle of the thickest section.   Take it out of the pan at that point, and it will finish cooking on the plate.  
Drizzle the sauce over the fish and serve immediately.  

15 minute dinner:
Slice and steam some green cabbage, while you are frying the fish.  Toss with butter, salt and pepper.  Then quickly peel and slice a mango onto your plate.   Pop the fish onto your plate and eat. 

The Eggiest Scrambled Eggs

This is how to make scrambled eggs so eggy, you want them every day.   The key is to move fast so don't make the eggs until everything else is ready, the table set, the coffee is ready, and everyone is ready to eat.  

I get my eggs from our local Dunbar farmer girls.   They have a chicken farm in Richmond and you just pick up your eggs on their front porch in Dunbar every Friday.   They are huge, delicious, and very colourful -- from green, to all shades of brown and white.

Ingredients:
Eggs, 2-3 per person
EVOO
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Fresh chopped parsley (optional)
Butter (home made is best)

Home made bread (or any good bread)

Instructions:
Get your eggs and butter out of the frig in advance to warm them (if you think of it).
Make coffee.
Stick some slices of country bread in the toaster or under the grill.
Take out your frying pan or omelet pan (stainless steel with heavy bottom is good).
Put it on medium heat and wait til the edge is hot to the touch (too hot to hold your finger on it).
Then add a good amount of olive oil, swoosh it around the sides of the pan, and wait til it's hot.
Crack  eggs into the pan.   They should crackle fiercely in the pan.
Sprinkle a little sea salt and grind some pepper.   Add the parsley.
Using a fork smoosh the eggs around in circles.  Just before they are cooked, plop them on a plate.   This is very important.  They will finish cooking out of the pan.   Your pan will be almost clean.   
Quickly butter your toast.
Eat.

Chicken Soup Cure for Colds and Flus

It's March and my defenses are down, and the flu bug has arrived.   Last night, I just could not stop coughing, so at 8:37 p.m. I got up and whipped up a pot of soup.   It was simmering on the stove 3 minutes later.   By 9 p.m. I was sipping hot soup, and after several bowls and an Advil, I settled into a long, sweaty sleep.   By morning, I was much better and my head was so clear I put in a full day analyzing accounting policies for a credit union.

So here is my never fail chicken soup recipe.  

Ingredients:
4-5 pieces of chicken with skin and bones (frozen pieces work fine)
Cold water
1onion
2  carrots
1 potato
3-4 cloves garlic, roughly sliced
Fresh dill
Fresh parsley
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper or peppercorns
Dried sage leaves
1 star anise

Instructions:
Put everything into a pot of cold water.
Simmer 30-45 minutes until chicken is tender.

Mushroom Infusion

Harry on mushrooms -- there's two ways to cook mushrooms.   One is to saute them to make them brown and crispy.   The other is to infuse them.   The saute method dries them out and you loose flavour.   The infusing method retains the juices and the flavour.   It is important to select a good mushroom (Crimini) and to cook them whole.   Harry doesn't wash them or even brush off the dirt.   I can attest to how amazing the infusing method tastes.

Ingredients
Butter
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Fresh garlic, grated
Onion (any kind), chopped fine
Crimini mushrooms, whole
Fresh dill (for fish dish) or other fresh herb that corresponds to the herb used for the main dish
White wine (a good one is Oyster Bay Savignon Blanc)

Instructions
Put everything in a cold saute pan.
Turn the heat on high.
Keep tossing everything around to make sure it doesn't burn but it's okay if the pan gets pretty brown.
Add a little white wine and put the lid on the pan.   Let the mushrooms steam until the liquid is gone and the pan is turning brown.
Turn down the heat to medium, and add a little more wine.  As soon as it evaporates, the dish is done.   Turn off.   If holding for a short while, just put the lid on the pan.