Feed Your Need For Fresh

Light, bright and refreshing Fennel & Blood Orange Salad | Photo by Della Rollins

I think we can all agree, it's been a long winter. Like, really long. I don't know about you, but I've hit a wall with all the heavy braises, stews and roasts. (Although the other night, I was happy to dig into a big ol' bowl of poutine, so I guess I'm not that over comfort food!) When I'm not gorging on gravy-soaked fries, I'm craving something refreshing, light and bright. A dish that tells me, hang in there, spring is just around the corner. We're a good month away from the first local lovelies, like asparagus, ramps and rhubarb, so I turn to ingredients that mimic those fresh flavours – fennel and citrus, which are both at their peak over the winter months. This Fennel & Blood Orange Salad has been a go-to over the past few weeks: I love the mild anise astringency of the raw fennel blended with the sweet-sour of the blood orange. 

I was first inspired by this recipe from Food52, but I wanted a dressing with more oomph. The one I've created is simple and light, using the juice for both sweetness and acidity and maximizing your ingredients by juicing the membranes left over after the oranges have been segmented (scroll down for a segmenting how-to). I played with regular Dijon mustard but found that using grainy mustard gave the dressing the body and interest I was looking for while retaining the beautiful colour of the juice. The salad lends itself to many adaptations. I like the saline bite of green olives, but you can add creaminess with avocado slices or extra crunch with toasted nuts like pistachio. And if you can't find blood oranges, try another citrus like grapefruit or navel oranges or even a mix of the two. Oh and be sure to use those fennel fronds, the wispy green tops on the fennel bulb that look a bit like dill; they have a subtle anise flavour and look beautiful.

Fennel & Blood Orange Salad
Prep Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Serves: 4

1 bulb fennel, shaved with mandolin or thinly sliced, fronds reserved
2-3 medium blood oranges, segmented, membranes reserved
1/4 cup green olives

Dressing
Reserved blood orange membranes 
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
1 tsp liquid honey 
pinch each salt and pepper
1 clove garlic
2 sprigs thyme

Arrange shaved or sliced fennel on a plate. Arrange blood orange segments on top. Chop reserved fennel fronds and scatter on top. Top with green olives. Drizzle with dressing (you may have some dressing leftover, depending on your preference).

For the dressing
Squeeze juice from reserved orange membranes for approx. 4 tbsp of juice. Whisk juice together with oil, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning (honey) as necessary, depending on level of sweetness of blood oranges. Remove peel from garlic and lightly crush with the flat blade of a knife, keeping the clove whole. Place garlic and thyme in dressing; let sit for 10 to 15 min. to infuse. Remove garlic and thyme before use. Note: I often use garlic and herbs like this to flavour my dressings, especially when I want them to impart subtle flavour. Leave the dressing in the fridge overnight to fully develop.

Here's how to segment citrus – it's easy!

Segmented citrus makes for easy eating and looks impressive | photos by Della Rollins

By the way, what do you think of the amazing photos in this post? I was very lucky to collaborate with photographer, and my good friend, Della Rollins. Aren't they beautiful? I love this one:  

Orange segmenting aftermath | photo by Della Rollins

We had a fun, relaxed shoot, in between keeping my little guy occupied – thank goodness for Jolly Jumpers! Thanks Della!

Now that I've satisfied my craving for fresh, I'm thinking next week may be dedicated to chocolate.... All things in moderation, right? Any special requests?

Taking the Cheese Out of Cauliflower

No cheese here – Lemon-Garlic Roasted Cauliflower 

As a kid, I used to love cauliflower because my mom, Carol, always made a really decadent cheesy sauce to go on top. She made this béchamel-based sauce so frequently (it went on broccoli, too) that she had one of those electric self-stirring sauce-making appliances that were so popular in the '80s. Without that cheese sauce though, the cauliflower itself was kinda boring. (Don't judge my mom on her '80s cauliflower, she's an exceptional cook! Sorry mom!) Fast forward to 2014, and, along with our hair styles, cauliflower has evolved; like kale and Brussels sprouts before it, now it's actually kinda hip. 

One of my favourite ways to serve it up is to roast it. Roasting brings out its sweetness, making it – dare, I say – almost addictive. The great thing about cauliflower is that it's a blank canvas that'll take any kind of spices or seasoning. Here's a base recipe and inspiration for switching it up.

Roasted Cauliflower 
Prep Time: 10 min. | Total Time: 45 min. | Serves: 4

1 head cauliflower, cut in florets or sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch each salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Toss cauliflower in oil, salt and pepper to coat. Spread cauliflower evenly on a rimmed baking sheet; place in middle rack of oven. Roast for approx. 30 min., stirring half way through, until cauliflower is tender and starting to brown and caramelize.

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper to
prevent sticking and for easy cleanup

Switch it Up!
Lemon-Garlic Toss with 1 clove minced garlic and zest of 1 lemon before roasting. (Garnish with thyme, if you're taking a photo and need a hit of green – see above!)

Mediterranean Once roasted, toss with 1/2 cup chopped grape tomatoes, 1 tbsp chopped capers and/or olives and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. 

Middle Eastern Toss with 1 tsp each ground cumin and turmeric before roasting (if like Middle Eastern herbs and spices, sumac would be delicious here, too, or try 1 tbsp za'atar instead).

Herbed Panko Once roasted, toss with 1/4 cup toasted panko crumbs (sautéed in 1 tbsp butter until golden) and 2 tbsp chopped parsley.

Parmesan (okay, technically this is cheese but it's delicious!) In the last 10 min. of roasting, once cauliflower is tender, sprinkle with 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese and continue roasting until parmesan is melted and golden, approx. 10 min.

I'd love to hear how you're cooking up cauliflower – do you go classic or are you trying something new? I'm going to try this recipe from Jamie Oliver next, where he turns cauliflower into faux rice. I'll let you know how it goes. 

Eating Out: Momofuku Shoto, Toronto

A trio of amuse to start the meal

Ian and I love discovering incredible places to eat. We'll hibernate for a month so we can splurge and try somewhere new, and when we travel, it's top on our list to research the best restaurants and food experiences in the area, whether that's fine dining, a local market or a food truck. Lucky for us, Toronto is a very good place to live if you want to eat well.

Momofuku's Shoto has been on our list for a while and Ian's birthday was the perfect excuse. Shoto is on the upper level of the Momofuku complex hidden behind the main restaurant on that floor, Daisho. Like all of David Chang's enterprises, Shoto is relaxed and cool. Guests sit at a U-shaped counter that overlooks an open prep area. The sommelier/server was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. The playlist ran the gamut from Metallica to Stevie Wonder. And the sous chefs plating in front of us were doing their thing, no airs and graces.

We opted for the new multi-course tasting, which offers five to six dishes instead of the usual 10. I'm all for these pared down tasting menus because I tend to get uncomfortably full by the end of a regular tasting. Highlights of the meal included a silky cauliflower soup over a delightful nugget of cauliflower tempura, blow-torched mackerel with beet puree and shiso leaf, a ragu with buckwheat noodles and super-tender chicken with earthy lentils and Jerusalem artichoke.

At the end of the service, the chefs chatted with us, asking us how we enjoyed the meal, talking food and restaurants and generally making the experience all the more enjoyable, leaving us looking forward to having another good "excuse" to go back.

A Caramel-Pear Cake Worth Celebrating

Rich and moist Upside-Down Caramel Pear Cake 

It was my husband, Ian's, birthday yesterday. We went out for dinner to celebrate and to enjoy a long-overdue date night – both the dinner and the date were pretty spectacular (more on the dinner later) – but I wanted to bake him a cake, too. Because, really, what's a birthday without a cake? 

Ian absolutely loves pears, and he'll always opt for a pear dessert when we eat out. So rather than make a traditional birthday cake, I made this Upside-Down "Caramel" Pear Cake. It's based on a recipe from Canadian Living – Upside-Down Buttermilk Pear Cake. I'm taking liberties by changing the name, but the buttermilk isn't a dominant flavour, and to me this cake is all about the caramel sauce. It makes the cake rich and moist and perfectly complements the pears without being sickly sweet. 

I followed CLs recipe pretty closely, with the exception of using a 10'' round cake pan, instead of a 9'' square cake pan, which I thought would be prettier and more birthday-like. I also doubled the caramel sauce recipe, using about a quarter more in my version, because reviewers said it didn't have enough or as much caramel sauce as the photograph showed on the site and that it got absorbed into the cake. Now, this was a risk and I'm not sure it's one I would repeat. I know CL Food Director, Annabel Waugh, and she and her team test their recipes diligently. What I found is that the extra sauce was absorbed into the cake anyway, making it almost too moist. The reviewers were right, though – the photo shows a deceptive amount of caramel glistening on top of the pears. I've been to many food photography shoots and the truth is, a food stylist is to a recipe what a makeup artist is to a model – and just like models, food photography gets its fair share of retouching. Next time I make this – this recipe's a keeper! – I will double the caramel sauce but reserve the extra half for drizzling on the pears once the cake comes out of the oven. I'll let you know how that works out.

Regardless, my hubby was a pretty happy guy!

Upside-Down Caramel Pear Cake
* adapted from Canadian Living 

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tbsp + 1 tsp lemon juice

3 firm ripe pears

(Note: except for the pears, halve the above ingredients to follow the original recipe)

Buttermilk Cake:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

To make the sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat, cook brown sugar, butter and lemon juice, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, about 2 min. Pour into greased and parchment paper–lined 10'' round cake pan or 9'' square cake pan to form a thin layer on the bottom. Peel, core and slice pears. Arrange pears in pan over caramel sauce. 

To make the cake: In large bowl, beat butter with granulated and brown sugars until fluffy; beat in eggs and vanilla. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of buttermilk. Pour over pears, smoothing to edges of pan. Bake in 350ºF oven for about 40 min. until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto serving plate.

Bosc pears – firmer are better for baking  

Layer pears over the caramel

Pour the batter on top

Play Dates Go Gourmet

A rustic puff pastry tart with butternut squash, shallots and triple cream cheese

As a new mom (my son, Rory, is eight months old), I've endured my fair share of cold cups of coffee and scavenged lunches (yesterday it was a bit of leftover pea puree and half a piece of toast). So when I get together with a couple of my mom friends for a play date, I like to make sure we eat well – they (and I) deserve it. Plus, these ladies are former colleagues from the magazine I used to work on, Inspired, so they know their food.

It was my turn to host last week and inspiration came by way of Nigel Slater's book Appetite, which is really a non-recipe book. He offers up base recipes with lots of adaptations to make them your own. I liked the look of an onion tart that used store-bought puff pastry as the base (this is a cooking shortcut I'm totally okay with), and I improvised with the toppings, using roasted butternut squash and shallots and a triple cream cheese called Brillat Savarin by Didier Lincet that we'd picked up at our local cheese shop in Kensington Market. This tart is a really flexible food idea that can take on any seasonal ingredients: I didn't want to waste the second block of puff pastry, so for dinner that night, I sautéed mushrooms, garlic and red onions with some thyme and rosemary, which was also great. When it comes to cheeses, you can use any cheese that takes your fancy – goat's cheese, fresh mozzarella, brie or even grated or sliced cheddar. Here's the general recipe:

Butternut Squash, Shallot & Cheese Tart
Peel, remove pulp and seeds and thinly slice one butternut squash and roast on a baking sheet in a 350ºF oven (I lightly coated mine with some olive oil and seasoned with a pinch each of salt, pepper and paprika) for about 20-30 min., until lightly caramelized. At the same time, roast two large sliced shallots (also lightly coated in oil and seasoned). If your squash is sliced thinly enough, they should be ready around the same time, but keep an eye on the shallots as they cook fairly quickly. This step can be done ahead (I got the veg all ready the day before).

Lightly flour your kitchen counter (or other rolling surface) and roll thawed puff pastry into a square or rectangle until it's quite thin (Slater says no thicker than a 10-pence coin, which is similar in thickness to five cents). Transfer your rolled pastry to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and use a fork to lightly prick the pastry, leaving a small border around the edge that will puff up and hold the fillings in. Layer squash and shallots on to the pastry, dot with chunks of cheese and sprinkle with fresh thyme and freshly ground pepper and brush the border with melted butter. Bake at 400ºF for about 15-20 min. until the pastry is golden and puffed and the cheese is melted and browning. 

Serving Tip: If you're not going to serve the tart right away, transfer to a cooling rack so it will keep its crispness. I left mine on the baking sheet for about half an hour while we fed, corralled and generally juggled babies, and the bottom was slightly soggy.

Rockin' Oysters

Oysters Rockefeller – a special Valentine's Day treat but also an impressive dinner party appetizer

My hubby and I have a long-standing tradition of eating oysters on Valentine’s Day. Usually we’ll have them straight-up, but this year we wanted to try out a new Oysters Rockefeller recipe. We really fell in love with Oysters Rockeller when we were on our honeymoon in Bermuda in 2011, where we indulged in them on more than one night at the famed Waterlot Inn. We’ve since experimented with lots of different recipes but none have had the right balance of brininess to creaminess and most were over-the-top complicated. These beauties are from Garde Manger by Canadian culinary rock star Chuck Hughes. We loved that they were simple and super, super delicious. We only made a few tweaks: halving the recipe because there were just the two of us (the original called for 48 oysters), using panko instead of regular bread crumbs and switching out regular Dijon for some from a specialty jar of Maille with Chablis and Black Truffles that we got over the holidays in Europe, which made them ultra decadent. 

Oysters Rockefeller
*adapted from Garde Manger by Chuck Hughes

1 cup  35% Cream
24  fresh oysters
1/2 tbsp  Dijon mustard 
2 tbsp  grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1/2 lb  fresh spinach
1 tbsp  butter
1/4 cup  panko 

1. In a saucepan, reduce cream by half. Meanwhile, working over a fine sieve set over a medium pot, shuck the oysters, letting the liquor drain into the pot. Put the oysters in the pot. Set aside the rounded bottom of the shells (we gave our a good scrub). Poach the oysters in their liquor for 30 sec. until firm. 

2. Remove oysters from the pot and set aside in bowl. Return pot to heat and reduce oyster liquor by half; add the reduced cream, Dijon and half the Parm. Set aside. 

3. In a skillet over low heat, cook the spinach in a bit of water for a few min. until wilted. Wring the water out of the spinach and chop finely. Add to the cream mixture. 

4. Melt butter in a skillet. Cook panko until golden. 

5. Preheat broiler (500ºF). Spread some course salt in the bottom of a baking dish and place the oyster shells on the salt. Place an oyster in each shell. Top oysters with spinach cream mixture, panko and remaining Parm. Broil on top rack for a couple of min. until the top is golden and cheese is melted and bubbly.