Things to look forward to in the big city:

Last night, I finally sucked it up and packed my first box. I've been putting it off. With Agata tied to her desk for the foreseeable future, the prospect of packing and moving our house to Toronto feels pretty overwhelming at this point. But even with the work of the next week looming ahead, I keep getting these little reminders of all the exciting things to look forward to.

One of those things is Well Preserved's regular food-related events. If you're not reading Well Preserved, I would highly recommend it - it was one of my favourite blogs for ages before I realized the folks behind it were Torontonians. If it wasn't for Well Preserved, I would have never known about candied bacon jerky - and where would I be then?

Every so often, Well Preserved hosts Home Ec, a regular series of food-related events at The Avro, a great little bar in Toronto's east end.

Last night, they hosted a preserve swap that I can't believe I missed out on (although then, who would have  packed the first box?). I would have happily traded some of our many remaining jars of canned tomatoes, elderberry syrup,  ketchup and shakshuka from last summer's harvest for some of the goodies reported from last night's swap. I mean, nectarine ginger jam? Maple sap? Yes please. 

Preserve swaps make so much sense to me. Canning and preserving tends to lend itself to large batches, and while we usually have no trouble eating our way through what we make, I love the idea of adding a bit of diversity to the ol' pantry. 

I also like the idea of getting together with a bunch of other preserving-types to hang out, drink beer and trade tips. Maybe I can finally figure out what to do with the pickled moose meat a friend recently brought back from a trip to Newfoundland. I've been waiting for a stroke of inspiration, but I'll admit, both pickled meat in general - and pickled moose meat specifically - are new territory for me. 

While I missed out on the preserve swap, they've just announced Home Ec #3: Potluck on Sticks. It seems to be what it sounds - a potluck that exclusively features food on sticks. Best of all? It's on March 26th, by which time I will be living in Toronto, and maybe even partially unpacked. 

Anyone have any good food-on-sticks suggestions? Extra points if they incorporate pickled moose meat. 

Baked Banana Rum Fritters

Ok, so after a long hiatus from cooking much other then vegetarian chili, I decided it was time to buy some fruit. One cannot live on beans and tomatoes alone (or maybe one can, but one should still probably eat some fruit occasionally,) so I bought a bunch of beautiful organic bananas. Aand then promptly forgot about them. You see, Agata and I discovered that if you add chili to nachos and throw on some cheese.. bam! whole new food. No need to eat the fruit. See what winter does to me? It's not pretty.

So now the bananas are starting to look a bit sad. If winter has two rules in my house, they are #1) big batches of chili and #2) spiced rum in everything. Having already explored rule #1 in relation to the aforementioned bananas with limited success (the bananas remain uneaten), I decided to explore rule #2, wherein the bananas are combined with spiced rum. Resounding success!

These fritters are best eaten warm, in great quantities, and along with a hot rum toddy.. They are simultaneously crispy and soft with lots of sweet baked banana. It's great.

Baked Banana Rum Fritters
based on a recipe by Nikki Gardner of DesignSponge

You'll need:

• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1 cup flour
• 3 eggs
• 5 bananas, cut into small pieces.
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425. 

2. Prepare the dough. Combine sugar, butter, salt, milk and rum in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once you've got in boiling, reduce the heat to low and dump in the flour, all at once. Stir the mixture, which will pull away from the edges of the saucepan and stick together in about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time, stirring until the dough is completely smooth after each addition.

3. Fold the banana into the dough. Butter a baking sheet. Make them really banana-y, its better that way. Maybe 70% banana to 30% dough? These fritters are really a celebration of all things banana - the dough is just to stick the whole thing together. Form the dough into small balls, about 1-2 inches in diameter, and put them on the baking sheet.  This is a messy process (although I suppose I could have used a spoon).

4. Bake until crisp and brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

5. Serve hot, sprinkled with icing sugar. 

Enjoy (and hope that spring comes soon). 

Farewell to this house, this town.

So, this blog has been pretty quiet for the last little while. Life has run away with me, somewhat, but it's all good stuff. While Agata has been slogging away to finish her thesis and re-enter the world of the living, I've been packing up our little apartment and scanning the housing listings.

After almost eight years, I'll be leaving my adopted town of Peterborough and heading back to Toronto, where I grew up. Agata and I will be moving in with our good friends Meagh and Claire, who are probably two of my favourite people in the world - and the whole thing feels really, really exciting.

We managed to find a house we can afford, in a neighbourhood we like, with lots of windows and a big yard  for gardening and enough space for peaceful cohabitation. The whole thing is in desperate need of a coat of paint and some love, but I think we're up for it. 

But I will miss our Peterborough apartment. Agata and I have lived here for two years now, and it was our first place together. It's been good to us.

 I will especially miss this kitchen. So much light. So little counter space.

Hot Mulled Beer

Hot beer. It's a really, really good idea.

Agata and I went on a trip to Poland in the summer to visit her family, and we spent some time in Zacopane, a small town in the Tatra mountains. It was, of course, incredibly picturesque. It was also very rainy, and unexpectedly cold. While this meant that we didn't get to go into the mountains, we did get to spend a day huddled in a pub, listening to rowdy polka music, eating sausages and  drinking hot spiced beer.

I have been permanently and forever won over by hot spiced beer. Through some magic, the hot beer stays bubbly. Its sweetened with honey and spiced with cinnamon and cloves, fortified with a half shot of whisky (oh boy.) and the foam head is almost the texture of whip cream. Aaaaand you drink it through a straw. Amazing, right?

What you need:

2 tall cans of beer (something light, and cheap)
1 shot of whiskey or rum (optional, but highly recommended)
2 thin slices of ginger
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
a few whole cloves
a few whole allspice berries
2 bayleaves
orange slice for garnish, if you're feeling fancy. 

1. Combine all ingredients in a pot. Heat slowly, covered, until the beer is very hot but hasn't boiled.
This is important - if the beer boils, it will loose all its boozy goodness. If you're going to do that, you might as well just make a cup of tea,

2. Pour the mixture into mugs or large glasses. Pour the beer from a bit of a height, trying to make as much foam as possible. The foam is maybe the best part. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and an round slice of orange (to impress your friends and family).

3. Enjoy.

Lamb Pide with Saffron and Honey

Ok, so its actually pretty difficult to pick a favorite pide recipe. This one here is a close runner up for the top spot.

This pide recipe involves cooking the lamb slowly in a savory mix of garlic, ginger, tomato and saffron, finished off with finely chopped dried apricots and a touch of honey. The saffron really shines through in this recipe, its pretty mindblowing. And the touch of sweetness from the fruit and honey are magic.

Really, its better not to choose between this recipe and the recipe for spiced lamp pide posted earlier. Just make both! You'll be famous, I promise.


Crust: (in a pinch, you could use frozen pizza dough)

• 1 tablespoon fresh yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 4 tablespoons yogurt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 cups flour

Topping

• 1 tsp butter
• 1 lb minced lamb/goat
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped finely
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 x 400 g canned chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp clear honey
• 3 dried apricots, chopped
• salt and black pepper 

Crust

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, warm water and yogurt, and mix. Let it sit for five minutes. If the yeast is healthy, you should see the mixture bubble, foam or rise in this period. Do not use yeast that isn't active at this stage.

2. Add the yeast mixture, flour, salt and oil. Knead until the dough is smooth and flexible.

3. Cover the dough and let it rise for one hour, or more.

4. When the dough has risen, punch it down, knead briefly and separate it into 3 balls (or more, if you want smaller pide). Let the dough rest for ten minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 360 degrees

5. Roll the dough out into a large oval on a well flowered surface. Then, fold in the sides to shape the dough into a large boat.

6.  Place the dough on a cookie sheet and cook at 360 degrees until firm, about 15 minutes. While you are baking the dough, prepare the filling.

Filling:

1. Heat butter in a frying pan over medium heat, add the lamb and fry until browned. 

2. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened.

3. Stir in the tomato paste, ginger, coriander, saffron and cinnamon. Stir. 

4. Drain the water from the canned tomatoes and add - cook for ten minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down. 

5. Stir in honey and apricots and stir for two minutes. 

6. Pile this mixture onto the cooked pizza dough. Cook for 10 minutes, or until hot. 

7. Garnish generously with yogurt, chopped cilantro and toasted sesame seeds (although I forgot the sesame seeds last time, and it was still delicious.) Serve cut into wide strips.

Enjoy!