Tasty Tangents

Food, life and other morsels

December 13, 2009
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Calabrese Honey Cookies

Mostazzoli Cookies

Mostazzoli Cookies

Whether you spell it mustazzuoli, mostazzoli, mostaccioli, mostaschol or something else, these biscotti-like cookies are a delicious traditional holiday treat from the southern Italian region of Calabria. My mom and I started with a hand-written recipe page from her mother, and then modified it a little based on what we had on hand. The recipe can also be made with a form of cooked wine called “mosto cotto,” but that’s an experiment for another day.

Mostazzoli

Ingredients:
2 eggs
500 g honey (about 1 1/2 cups)
4 ounces plus one teaspoon brown sugar (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
zest of one orange
1/2 cup toasted, finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup toasted, finely chopped walnuts (you can use all one nut if you prefer, almonds are traditional)
About 3 cups flour (depends on consistency of dough)

For garnish: 1 egg white, beaten and coloured sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine all ingredients (except garnish), slowly adding flour last, putting in just enough so the dough is soft and you can handle it and form it into logs.

Make dough into about six logs, each 3×6 inches. Place on two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Glaze: Brush beaten egg white over top of logs, then add coloured sprinkles.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden.

Once cooled, slice into biscotti-style pieces before serving.

Whole logs can be stored in refrigerator wrapped in plastic for several weeks.

December 5, 2009
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Cooking tips

So I was trying out this new website called Stumble Upon, that is supposed to help you find the things that interest you online amid all the masses of information. Eventually, one of the things it directed me to is this neat list of Kitchen Hints.

So maybe I’m the only one who didn’t know raw potato will take food stains off skin, or to put batter in a turkey baster to make perfectly round pancakes? But the thing that I found most fascinating is the idea of putting stale potato chips in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds and then letting them sit for 2 minutes, and supposedly they’ll be crispy again. Has anyone tried this theory?

Does anyone out there have any favourite food or non-food related sites they check regularly? If so, let me know!

November 21, 2009
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Food, Inc.

Friday night we joined some friends for a night at the movies, foodie style. We saw the documentary Food, Inc. and I have to say it was a real eye-opener. It looks at industrial food production in the U.S., including corn, beef and chicken, and the state of the products that are available in your grocery store.

The number of items that contain corn by-products, why e. coli and diabetes have become such pervasive problems and why regulatory bodies in America have been unable or unwilling to do anything were all addressed. It was a fascinating look at where the most common food/products we consume come from.

I’m not sure if everyone else has noticed how much bigger chicken breasts seem these days, but it is deliberate, and how it has come about frightens me a little. I’m sure some people will say the documentary was biased against the “big food” companies, but it certainly didn’t help their case that they were unwilling to talk to the film’s producers.

The bottom line to me seemed to be about the dangers of having the “bottom line” as your only concern when it comes to food production, without weighing the costs to the environment or the consumer’s waistline. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems ridiculous that people can buy a couple of hamburgers for less than the cost of many vegetables.

At any rate, I encourage you to judge for yourself.

November 18, 2009
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Pumpkin Coconut Bisque

Pumpkin Coconut Bisque

Pumpkin Coconut Bisque

In my eternal hunt to find ways to finish orphan ingredients, I set out on a quest to find a way to use almost a full can of pumpkin puree. (It was left over from Thanksgiving’s pumpkin brownies.) I was hoping for something not dessert related, which is also a remnant of the Thanksgiving/Halloween aftermath.

I settled on a recipe from epicurious.com that only required me to buy coconut milk. Easy, I thought. After a hunt of the local grocery story I discovered coconut milk does not live in the aisle with the canned fruit, or with condiments, or with the Asian ingredients, but in fact lives in the baking aisle alongside the condensed milk. Is there anyone out there who can explain this location to me?

Anyway, after the effort of the hunt, the recipe itself turned out to be incredibly simple, and fantastically delicious. It reminded me a little of some great curries that I’ve had, but without nearly as much heat. A big thumbs up.

October 24, 2009
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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving Turkey

The big debate going into Thanksgiving was turkey, turducken or turpiggin’. (The former is a turkey stuffed with a duck then stuffed with a chicken, while the latter is a turkey stuffed with a whole cooked ham.) In the end, the humble turkey won the day, with a little twist. The stuffing was made separately, so the turkey was filled with onions, lemons, fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme and oregano) and some sliced pancetta (Italian cured bacon, so I guess it was a turbacon). I followed the direction on Food TV’s website for defrosting, brining and roasting the turkey and it turned out beautifully.

The menu looked like this: (Click for links to recipes)

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

Appetizer: Butternut Squash Soup with Cheddar Cornmeal Muffins
Clockwise from top, cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, glazed root vegetables and broccoli.

Clockwise from top, cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, glazed root vegetables and broccoli.

Main Course: Turkey
Wild Rice, Sausage and Fennel Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Glazed Root Vegetables
Broccoli
Gravy
Thanksgiving Dessert with Pumpkin Brownies in foreground

Thanksgiving Dessert with Pumpkin Brownies in foreground

Dessert: Pumpkin Brownies
Pumpkin Muffins (thanks Nat!)
Pumpkin Pie (store bought)
Apple-Cranberry Pie (thanks Mom!)

For me the biggest success was the glazed root vegetables. It was the first time I’d used a variety of veggies that I’ve never used before including celeriac, turnip and parsnip. I think everyone else would say the stuffing was their favourite. It had the perfect nutty and salty combination.

I have to admit that it was a great challenge to prepare the meal for 9 people, so I have to send a shout out to my mom, who came over the night before to give me a hand with my first attempt at hosting a slightly larger gathering than usual.

I learned a couple of lessons from the whole thing. The most important thing is to make dishes you can prepare the day before. I made the butternut squash soup, stuffing and brownies the day before and chopped a lot of vegetables very early in the morning, and I think things went more smoothly because of it. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Halloween here we come!