The Tomato November/December 2013 by The Tomato Food and Drink

Gold Medal Christmas Cookies Cibo Bistroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Entertaining Menu

Contents editor Mary Bailey marybee@shaw.ca

Features

publisher BGP Publishing

copy editor Amanda LeNeve Don Retson

designer

Reserve Online

The sweetness of the season

Sides and Stuffing

Far Out and Fabulous!

Pierre Lamielle Gerry Rasmussen

Gingerbread Houses

design and prepress

Entertaining 911

illustration/photography

@UnionBankInn

Gold Medal Plates Christmas Cookies

Peter Bailey Jared Bernard Jan Hostyn Judy Schultz

www.unionbankinn.com

Cibo’s family Boxing Day dinner

Liquid Gifts

contributing writers

780-401-2222

An Entertaining Menu

Bossanova Communications Inc.

10053 Jasper Avenue

Bossanova Communications Inc.

printer distribution Greenline Distribution For editorial inquires, information, letters, suggestions or ideas, contact The Tomato at 780-431-1802, fax 780-428-1030, or email marybee@shaw.ca. For advertising information call 780-431-1802.

the tomato is published six times per year: January/February March/April May/June July/August September/October November/December by BGP Publishing 9833 84 Avenue Edmonton, AB T6E 2G1 780-431-1802 Subscriptions are available for $25 per year.

From cash-strapped friends and rich uncles

Holiday meals wouldn’t be holidays without the sides | Mary Bailey

For the culinarily-obsessed | Mary Bailey

A gingerbread house-making party | Jan Hostyn

Or what I now know about having a party | Mary Bailey

Departments

Dish Gastronomic happenings around town

The Proust Culinary Questionnaire

Beer Guy

Drink

Wine Maven

Kitchen Sink

According to Judy

Marjorie Bencz, Executive Director, Edmonton’s Food Bank

Cheers to chocolate | Peter Bailey

With the wassailing bowl | Jared Bernard

Mary Bailey

What’s new and notable

Fashion-forward foodies foretell future food | Judy Schultz

Cover illusrtation by Pierre Lamielle, kitchenscraps.ca

thetomato.ca

The Tomato | November December 2013 3

ICS_Santa_3-4_Ad_F.pdf

10/11/13

10:00 AM

gastronomic happenings around town | holiday cooking The 2013 Atco Holiday Collection cookbook is now available; 112 pages in an easy-to-use coil-bound format with crisp photography. It just wouldn’t be the holidays without this annual cookbook. The 2013 edition features mouthwatering recipes such as stuffed pork loin with Madeira butter; barley with Brussels sprout leaves, and a luscious-looking cranberry trifle. Also within: nutritional analysis of every recipe, kitchen safety tips and lots of helpful culinary hints. At bookstores and atcoblueflamekitchen.com, $15.

start monkeying around Rob Filipchuk (former wine guy, Cristall’s Wine Market) opens the Glass Monkey Gastropub in the former Jack’s Grill space in Lendrum Mall. There are 85 seats with a variety of seating (hardwood tables, banquettes, and a curvy long bar seating 10), an eight-wine Enomatic, six beers on tap, and modern cocktails. “We want to create a casual relaxed atmosphere that promises a fresh restaurant experience," says Rob. Chef Darcy Radies (formerly Blue Pear) heads up the kitchen, so you know the food will be good. The varied menu wasn’t final at press time but expect small plates, salads, cheese and charcuterie boards, a really good burger, classic desserts. We hope that the fish tacos, sunchokes with mascarpone, lemon and hazelnuts, and the roasted carrots with pickled mushrooms, cumin, and lemon make the final cut. Open 3:30 until late, 5842-111 Street, Lendrum Mall. Reservations available on opentable.com.

everything is coming up alice Alice eats, A Wonderland Cookbook (subtitled: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll with recipes inspired by the story and characters)

Authentic Italian flavors with a modern twist. Everything local, fresh and made in house. Open Tuesday – Friday: 11.30 am – 2.00 pm Tuesday – Saturday: 5.00 pm – 10.00 pm

780-757-2426 cibobistro.com 11244 - 104 Ave (Oliver Square)

Find all the advice (or shall I say riddles?) you would need for creating a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Created by Calgary-based cookbook author Julie Van Rosendaal and chef and illustrator Pierre Lamielle, Alice eats is a clever, gloriously joyful book filled with whimsy, beautiful to look at and to read to children of all ages, whether fans of Alice and cheshire cats, or just fans of cake (What would an ‘Eat Me’ cake taste like? Find out on page 23). The delightful recipes are each accompanied by helpful illustrations and photos. Alice eats A Wonderland Cookbook words and pictures by Pierre A. Lamielle and Julie van Rosendaal, Whitecap, $34.95.

dish

the essential marcella You could say that Marcella Hazan brought Italian cooking to North America in the same fashion that Julia Child brought classic French cooking. Marcella didn’t start cooking until she moved to New York City with her husband in 1956, then taught herself using only palate memory (she was born in Emilia Romagna) as a guide. She began offering lessons and opened a cooking school. Several cookbooks followed, filled with scrupulous attention to detail, a reverence for best quality ingredients and, actually, fairly simple recipes, like this tomato sauce: Add a large can of Italian tomatoes to a saucepan with 5 T butter, salt and half an onion. Stir occasionally, breaking up any large bits of tomato. Cook for about 45 minute until thick. Taste, correct seasoning, and discard the onion before tossing with pasta. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano. Serves 6. Marcella Hazan died September 29 in Florida.

create a mitten friendly drink and win! Concoct, brew, mix or mull Edmonton’s first official winter drink. Hot or cold, with or without alcohol, your original recipe could win fabulous prizes, endless acclaim and the gratitude of hundreds! Bonus points for drinks made from local stuff grown around here—things like Alberta grain-based spirits, honey, rhubarb, beets, saskatoon berries, carrots. The competition begins November 14. Visit facebook.com/ WinterCityEdmonton for all the details and entry forms. Follow the fun on twitter.com/wintercityyeg. The signature drink competition is part of the city’s new Love of Winter strategy to recast Edmonton as a great winter city, recognized by the Alberta Professional Planners Institute for leadership and innovation. The city’s fresh: Edmonton’s Food and Urban Agriculture Strategy, was also recognized by the Institute. For more information visit: albertaplanners.com.

The Tomato | November December 2013 5

An Entertaining Menu C i b o ’ s Fa m i ly B o x i n g D ay D i n n e r

Life in the restaurant business means you work when everybody else plays. At Cibo, that’s no reason not to get together for a holiday dinner. The restaurant closes for a few days over the holidays to take a breather before the New Year’s extravaganza. During that time chef and owner Rosario Caputo hosts 40 family, staff and friends at the restaurant for Boxing Day dinner. It’s an all-day family affair: His mother makes her famous lasagne (and no, she will not share the recipe), while Cibo’s kitchen crew prep turkey with a sausage stuffing, lamb, and pork shoulder from Irvings and lots of side dishes. “We brine the shoulder for two days in a brown sugar brine, score the fat and work in a honey rosemary thyme rub,” says Rosario. “The crackling tastes like candy. We get two lamb legs from Four Whistle Farm, debone them, make a fresh herb and garlic mixture to rub the inside, tie them up, and roast until fragrant and tender. “Doing it at the restaurant saves everybody more cleanup. My aunts and uncles have already had Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners.” Dessert? “My uncle makes tarts, chocolate and pecan. He’s been cooking all his life.”

6 November December 2013 | The Tomato

roasted leg of lamb 1 bone-in Four Whistle Farm leg of lamb 1 c

fresh rosemary, chopped

fresh thyme, chopped

Roasted Legs of Lamb

Turkey with Sausage Stuffing Brown Sugar-Brined Pork Shoulder

1c flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped 2 T

fresh garlic, chopped

½ c

fresh dill, chopped

olive oil

fresh-ground black pepper

coarse salt

Debone leg of lamb, season with salt and pepper. In a medium sized bowl, mix fresh herbs, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil. Generously rub the inside of the deboned leg with fresh herb mixture. Once the inside of the leg is covered in herb mixture, roll the lamb leg and tie with butcher twine. Lightly rub olive oil on the outside of the lamb leg and set aside. Heat a large frying pan on medium/ high heat and sear the outside of the meat until golden brown on every side. Remove lamb from pan and heavily crust with coarse salt and black pepper. Place lamb in a roasting pan uncovered and bake in oven at 350ºF for 2 hours or until leg is 145ºF internal temperature. Remove leg from oven and cover in tin foil. Let leg rest for 30 minutes before you slice and serve.

5 lbs Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (about 2-3 stalks, depending on size) ¼ c

coarse salt

2 T

olive oil

1 c

pancetta cubed

Truffled Mashed Potatoes

whipping cream

Bocconcini Salad

¼ c

Dijon mustard

coarse salt

fresh-ground black pepper

Mom’s Lasagna Pancetta Mustard Sprouts

½ c fresh squeezed lemon Juice (approx ½ lemon) ½ c

brussels sprouts with pancetta in mustard cream

Green Salad Tarts

truffle mashed potatoes 5 lb red skinned potatoes, washed and scrubbed ¼ c

coarse salt

½ lb

unsalted butter

1 c

whipping cream

coarse salt

fresh-ground black pepper

In a large pot of salted water blanch sprouts until tender. Drain and set aside. In a large saucepan heat olive oil on medium/high heat. Add pancetta and fry until crisp. Add cream and mustard. Reduce on medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. Once mixture has reached a thick, silky texture, add Brussels sprouts and coat with mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish dish with pangrattato* if desired. * Buy white truffle oil (Condimento Al Tartufo Bianco) at the Italian Centre or Paddy’s.

white truffle oil (Condimento Al Tartufo Bianco)*

** pangrattato: crispy bread crumbs

In a large pot, combine potatoes and salt on high heat until it boils, let potatoes boil on high for 30 minutes or until tender when you poke with a fork. Drain potatoes and place into a large bowl. Add butter and whipping cream. Mash potatoes until everything is mixed, leaving mixture “rustic” not whipped and creamy. Add salt, pepper, and truffle oil to taste.

Cibo Bistro 11244 104 Avenue 780-757-2426 cibobistro.com facebook.com/cibobistro

Come Play in our KitChen Work hand-in-hand With our professional chefs in nait’s state-of-the-art facilities. Learn from the best. Gain valuable kitchen and cooking skills from NAIT’s celebrated chefs through hands-on practice, lectures and demonstrations. Now offering courses in: • Cooking for Health • Special Occasion Cooking • Baking & Pastry • International Cooking • Culinary General Interest • Kitchen Skills

Learn more and enrol today at nait.ca/culinary

a leading polytechnic committed to student success

The Tomato | November December 2013 7

Stir in white chocolate chips and hazelnuts. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in icing sugar. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray, or parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool. Makes 3 ½ dozen.

Jan Trittenbach, Pack Rat Louie “My favourite Christmas cookie is a traditional Swiss cookie called Basler Läckerli. Whenever my mom made it, I just loved it. It’s not too sweet and I like the not-too-soft texture.”

basler läckerli Adapted from Desserts by Pierre Hermé.

We asked the 2013 Gold Medal Plates contenders to take a moment and think about Christmas cookies. Each chef had a memory of anticipation, happiness, and love all wrapped up in a little cookie. Many make the same cookies they grew up with — shortbread, butter cookies, spice cookies. Even peanut butter and chocolate chip have meaning at the holidays.

Shane Chartrand Vons Steak House & Oyster Bar “What does a cookie mean to me? Happiness. Pure bliss. “If I had to choose, it would be a simple peanut butter cookie with chunks of peanut. This is a stupid simple recipe we used to make at my mom and dad’s.”

Alex Sneazewell, the Gold Medal Plates contender from the Manor Café, likes a butter cinnamon cookie his wife makes. “I’m not the baker, she’s got more love in the baking. My wife’s entire family bakes. They make a bunch of different squares; they do the one where you jam Reeses peanut butter cups into cookies; they make brittle. We always have so much — dozens of squares and cookies in the freezer.”

peanut butter crunch

2 c

flour

We asked Hilton Dinner, who owns the popular Bon Ton Bakery, what makes a good cookie?

1 t

baking powder

1½ t

baking soda

“It’s memories of holidays past,” he says. “For example, our pecan snowball: people say ‘oh that is just like the ones my mum used to make.’

½ t

fleur de sel

½ c

cinnamon toast crunch cereal

“People come here for the tradition, cookies are one of the things that makes Christmas for people. “We start at the end of October, and make about 4,000 dozen every year — all butter, home-style recipes. Each cookie is made and cut by hand. Pecan snowballs are popular, as are thimbles. We sell a ton of them. “Cookies bring a sweetness to the season.” All recipes use all-purpose flour unless otherwise indicated. 8 November December 2013 | The Tomato

1 c

unsalted butter

1½ c

crunchy peanut butter

1½ c

brown sugar

2 eggs

Cream together butter, peanut butter, and sugar. Mix in the eggs. In a separate bowl, sift flour, fleur de sel, baking soda, and baking powder. Blend in with the wet ingredients and then fold cereal into the mixture. Make small balls about ¾-inch wide. Place on a baking sheet. Don’t forget to do the classic push down with a fork, in two directions making a crisscross design. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes, until cooked, but still soft in the centre.

Paul Campbell Café de Ville in the Park “I like a simple cookie, a classic chocolate chip peanut butter. But my favourite is what I call the bears’ paw — double chocolate cookie with toasted hazelnuts. They are very moist.”

bear’s paws

¾ c

honey

½ c

sugar

½ t

finely grated lemon zest

¼ t

cinnamon

¼ t

freshly ground black pepper

pinch

freshly grated nutmeg

pinch

ground ginger

pinch

ground cloves

pinch

freshly ground white pepper

scant

2/ 3

c finely diced candied lemon and orange rind

1 c

semisweet chocolate chips

2 T

butter, softened

1 c

sugar

egg whites

1½ t

vanilla extract

1½ c

flour

1½ t

baking powder

¼ t

salt

3 T

kirsch

¼ c

water

1½ T

water

1 c

white chocolate chips

½ c

ground hazelnuts, toasted

½ c

icing sugar

In a microwave, melt the semisweet chocolate chips. Stir until smooth; set aside. In a small bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Add egg whites and vanilla. Beat well. Stir in melted chocolate. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture alternating with the water.

1¼ c + 2 T sliced almonds (4½ ounces) ¼ c

kirsch

2 c + 2 T flour, plus more for dusting ½ t

baking soda

glaze 2/ 3

icing sugar

Combine the honey, sugar, lemon zest, and the spices in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until the honey and sugar are melted, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat, add candied rind, 1 c almonds and the kirsch. Sift flour and baking soda over the mixture and stir to incorporate. Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Scrape the dough onto the plastic and flatten into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Liberally flour a work surface. Roll out the dough to a 12-inch square about 3/ inches thick. Line a large cookie 8 sheet with parchment paper and slide the dough onto it. Prick all over with a fork. Scatter the remaining ¼ c of almonds on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, mix sugar, water, and kirsch. Bake the cookie square for 14 minutes, or until golden. Immediately brush the glaze on top. Slide the parchment onto a rack and let the cookie cool completely. On a work surface, using a large, sharp knife, trim the edges of the square, then cut it into four strips. Cut each strip into ¾-inch bars. Makes approximately 60 bars.

Paul Shufelt, Century Group “This is my mom’s recipe. In true mom fashion, it was hard to pin her down on specifics, rather a pinch of this and a dab of that, but thankfully this one is pretty simple. It makes about 24 cookies, depending on the size you want to make.”

my mom’s shortbread ½ c

cornstarch

½ c

icing sugar

1 c

flour

¾ c

butter

Andrew Fung, XIX Nineteen “I like chocolate chip cookies myself — small, bite-sized, delicate. Eating a cookie like that is like Christmas every day.”

chocolate chip 2 c

butter

1 c

brown sugar

½ c

sugar

2 large

eggs

4½ c

flour

½ c

chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

you know you want more...

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add egg and flour; mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until golden. Makes approximately 36 cookies.

Robert Simpson Blackhawk Golf Course “Christmas cookies make me think of my mom, a very good cook and baker. She’s German; my Dad is Scottish. The two holiday cookies I remember the most are Scottish Empire biscuits with icing and jam, and what we called spitzibuben.”

empire biscuits

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Blend all ingredients well to combine, starting with a fork, then moving to your hands. Portion into about 24 balls.

3 c

flour

1 c

sugar

1 c

butter

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, about an inch apart and press down with a fork. Garnish with a maraschino cherry sliver.

½ t

baking soda

1 t

cream of tartar

Bake in the oven 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool and keep in a sealed container.

Cream together butter and sugar (a bit at a time). Add egg and cream some more. Add flour gradually to form a stiff dough. Knead well. Roll out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter, any size cookie cutter you like. Bake for 12 to 15 min. Leave on wire rack to cool. Put together with raspberry jam. Top with icing when cool. The cookies freeze very well (without the icing).

Alternatively, you can roll this dough out and cut in to various holiday shapes and garnish with colored sprinkles in the spirit of a holiday theme. These cookies also freeze quite well and can be made in advance to save a little holiday chaos.

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beautiful Parties c aT e r e D h e r e .

T he B uTler D iD i T c aT e r i n g a n D c o n c i e rg e

Continued next page

780.455.5228 email@thebutlerdiditedmonton.com www.thebutlerdiditedmonton.com

The Tomato | November December 2013 9

spitzbuben

Sherbrooke was Doing Beer Before Beer was Cool

Spitzbuben (little rascals) are also known as Linzer cookies. Robert sent a scan of a page from his mother’s White House Cookbooks; written across the top of the page is a note: 4 (100 grams) packages almonds. 1½ c

butter (3 sticks)

1 c

sugar

egg yolk

1 t

grated lemon rind

½ t

vanilla

3½ c finely ground hazelnuts or almonds 11819 St Albert Trail 780.455.4556 www.sherbrookeliquor.com

Shop where the chefs shop.

31/3 c

unsifted cake flour

1 t

baking powder

1¼ t

ground cinnamon

1 jar

(12 ounces) raspberry jam

icing sugar (The White House cookbook refers to this as 10x sugar) Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy; beat in egg, egg yolk, lemon rind, and vanilla; stir in nuts. Stir in flour, baking powder, and cinnamon, blending well to make a stiff dough. Wrap in wax paper. Chill several hours, or overnight.

278 Cree Road in Sherwood Park • 780.449-.3710 Open Monday to Thursday 10-5 • Friday to Saturday 9-6

Cut dough in half (refrigerate other half). Roll out dough between sheets of wax paper to slightly less than ¼-inch thickness. Remove top sheet of wax paper. With a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many circles from the dough as you can. Carefully remove circles from bottom sheet of wax paper and place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets. Refrigerate scraps of dough for second rolling. Repeat with other half of the dough, cutting out an equal number of 2-inch circles. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. With a ¾ inch cookie cutter, cut out centre of each of the second batch of cookies. Use any scraps of dough for second rolling. Roll scraps of dough; cut out equal number of solid circles and circles with open centres.

have you been

Frenched?

10 November December 2013 | The Tomato

Bake for 12 minutes, or until edges are golden.

www.themarc.ca • 780.429.2828

Remove cookie sheets from oven; let stand one minute. Remove cookies with wide spatula to wire racks. Cool.

Heat jam in a small saucepan. Spread each of the solid cookies with a thin layer of hot preserves. Top each with a cut-out cookie; press gently to make a sandwich. Place on wire rack. Sprinkle tops of cookies with ‘10x sugar’ (icing sugar). Spoon a dab of preserves in opening of each cookie; let preserves set slightly. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Three chefs, Jan, Doreen, and Serge sent or dictated their recipes by weight rather than measure. Usually we work out the conversion to The Tomato house style, but this time decided to leave them in their original state. This stays true to the chefs’ intention, and we find that most bakers are accustomed to weighing ingredients.

Jesse Morrison-Gauthier The Common “Shortbread is my favourite Christmas cookie — I love the mouthfeel, you put it on your tongue and it dissolves,” says Jesse. The secret to a well-made shortbread cookie? “Creaming the butter and sugar for a long time. “This is a piped shortbread, a NAIT baking recipe from when I went there. Bake with two baking sheets together to prevent dark bottoms and turn them halfway though the baking time. Use a cookie press or a pastry bag with a fluted tip to pipe the cookies.”

viennese shortbread 500 g

butter

125 g

icing sugar

500 g

cake flour

Doreen Prei Edmonton Petroleum Club “Christmas cookies mean a lot to me. My great grandmother always made lots — she has a special tin for everyone on Christmas Eve. “I remember a chocolate cookie with the hazelnut inside and a straightup butter cookie with almonds, like a shortbread — little buttery pillows shaped like a C, super soft and buttery. In deep East German times, she even made them with schmalz (chicken fat) “My great grandmother died shortly before Christmas. My mother still makes these cookies to remember.”

my favourite childhood christmas cookie 200 g

butter

70 g

sugar

1 pkg vanilla sugar (available at K&K) 150 g

cornstarch

150 g

flour

20 gr

cocoa powder

hazelnuts Preheat oven to 350°F. Make little balls and put a hazelnut in the middle. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden. After cooled down, garnish with icing sugar.

oma elsa’s christmas cookies

Preheat oven to 400°F.

80 g

butter

Cream butter, add icing sugar and scrape down. Add flour in four additions, creaming between each addition. Pipe on to a cookie sheet. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes. Makes 36 cookies.

100 g

sugar

250 g

flour

Variation: A personal touch, make a lavender sugar to dust cookies with.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Blitz 2 T dried lavender flower in a coffee grinder. Sieve it with ¼ cup each of icing sugar and regular sugar. Dust on cookie when they come out of the oven.

1 egg

zest of 1 lemon

1 t

baking powder

Make a dough and roll out thin. Cut the cookies into any shape you like and brush with egg yolks. Put some coarse sugar on them and bake until slightly brown.

Serge Jost, Fairmont Hotel Macdonald “Christmas cookies are a big deal in the Alsace. A lot of tradition is associated with cookies starting with gingerbread for December 6, St. Nicholas day. What I like the most is the anise cookie, which we always say is the father of the macaron — a crisper, harder cookie not as soft as macaron, and not as big a challenge as the macaron for most people. In Alsace we don’t have cookies with coffee or tea, we have a nice wine, Gewurztraminer. When you eat a cookie, you drink wine; more cookies more wine — around the table eating and drinking. That for me is Christmas cookies.”

hosting mEmorablE EvEnts sinCE 1950

Edmonton PEtrolEum Club Lend your next event the elegance and sophistication only a private club can provide. Weddings Banquets Membership Opportunities 11110 - 108 Street 780.474.3411

www.edpetroleumclub.com

alsatian anise cookies 500 g

sugar

8 eggs 600 g

flour

25 g

anise seed

for the baking sheet 20g butter 10g flour With a whisk, beat the egg and sugar until the mixture becomes pale yellow in color and falls off the end of the whisk attachment in long ribbons. Add the anise seed and the flour to the beaten egg and fold in gently. Spread the butter on the baking sheet and flour (or use a sheet of parchment paper). Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip, and pipe 3 cm rounds on the baking sheet. Let it dry overnight. Preheat oven to 325°F and bake for 10 minutes. Make sure there is no colour on the top.

Christmas cake

8720–149 Street, Edmonton bonton.ca

The Tomato | November December 2013 11

Liquid gifts from cash-strapped friends and rich uncles

What would you like to see under the tree from a wine lover with more taste than cash? What would you like to receive from a generous and rich relative? Let’s call him Uncle Bob. These are the questions we posed to several friends of the vine — what would be their dream bottles? They answered with a selection of delicious wines and spirits that can be had for under $20 or with a very fat pocketbook. Champagne, Riesling, Nebbiolo, Cabs, Amarone — there is something here for everyone.

Anita Jarmolicz, International Cellars From the cashstrapped friend: 2010 Wente Southern Hills Cabernet Sauvignon (Livermore Valley, USA), $16 Full-bodied, elegant, and packed with blackberry and black cherry flavours from the fifth generation Wente Family vineyards.

From the rich uncle: 2009 Pingus (Ribero del Duero, Spain), $1,025 The legendary flagship wine of Dominio de Pingus is a monumental offering. Dense, complex, and loaded with flavour and intensity. For your cellar; it can age for up to 50 years!

12 November December 2013 | The Tomato

Rob Filipchuk, Glass Monkey Gastropub From the cashstrapped friend: 2010 Bodega Catena Malbec (Mendoza, Argentina), $20 This red offers great value, and cellars amazingly well to evolve and improve for 10-15 years. It is from one of the most amazing looking wineries I have ever seen.

From the rich uncle: 1969 Macallan 42 year old (Scotland), $21,000

Patrick Saurette, The Marc Restaurant

This extremely rare Macallan represents the peak of the distiller’s art, presented in a Lalique crystal decanter with silver engraving which mirrors the whisky’s exquisite refinement. Bringing the monumental journey full circle, the decanter is housed in an elegant display case, crafted from the very cask that matured the whisky to perfection. Only one available.

From the cash-strapped friend:

Paulette Scott, Pacific Wine and Spirits

I am a firm believer that people must drink more Riesling. The Riesling dinner we had with Cave Spring dispelled a lot of myths about Riesling; we know we can have it with meat, we can drink it throughout a meal.

From the rich uncle:

From the cash-strapped friend:

2007 Remoissenet Montrachet Grand Cru (Burgundy, France), $480

Botter Moscato (Apulia, Italy), $14

A truly fantastic wine with amazing freshness, and exotic tropical fruit that explodes from the glass. I've only tasted this wine twice but still remember the beautiful complexity and incredible flavours.

Graham Usher, UnWined Fine Wines, Spirits and Ales From the cash-strapped friend: 2009 Chateau LaBrande (AOC Cahors, France), $18 This rich Malbec has an enticing earthy, plummy nose, savoury flavours, mildly tannic with a medium finish. Chateau Labrande is a well-crafted wine, and highly recommended for those who wish to compare an old world wine with a new world Malbec from Argentina.

This 100 per cent Moscato is off dry, expressive, with a soft spritz and flavours of sweet melon, peach and honey. Delightful!

2012 Descombe Beaujolais Village (Burgundy, France), $20 I love Beaujolais! This is so fresh — good fruit, good acidity with the right amount of tannin; it has some good grip.

From the rich uncle: 2006 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg Cuvee Sainte Catherine Grand Cru (Alsace, France), $70-ish

Wade Brintnell, The Wine Cellar

From the rich uncle:

From the cash-strapped friend:

2011 Fonseca Vintage Port (Oporto, Portugal), $125

2011 Vondeling Baldrick Shiraz (Coastal Region, Paarl Voor Paardeberg, South Africa), $20

Imagine this: lifted scents of freshly-picked blackberries, kirsch, crushed stone. Welldefined, focused and direct; possessing a silky smooth palate with not a rough edge in sight. It will become an outstanding vintage Fonseca, the growing season taming its exuberance with spectacular results. So much potential. Drink? 2036+

Peppery raspberry aromas, medium-bodied with supple, silky tannins.

From the rich uncle: 2010 Domaine de la Romanee Conti (DRC) Romanée Conti (Burgundy, France), $16,000 My rich uncle will have to pull some strings to get on the allocation list for Domaine de la Romanée Conti in order to secure one of the rarest wines in the world. The 2010 Romanée Conti is a near perfect wine that will take decades to mature, but should offer those fortunate to own one an ethereal experience.

Leila Zuniga, Lifford Wine and Spirits

Sasha McCauley, Authentic Wine & Spirits Merchants

From the cashstrapped friend:

From the cash-strapped friend:

2006 Cappellaccio Aglianico Riserva DOC (Puglia, Italy), $19 No one would ever know that this fabulous little Italian gem was under $20. Aromas of ripe red fruit and tanned leather and spice will surely fool your friends into thinking you spent much more.

From the rich uncle: 1995 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Cruz, California), $200 This intense Bordeaux blend was described by winemaker Paul Draper as being from his most brawny and muscular vintage. If anyone knows of a rich uncle with those qualities please let me know!

Eberhard Tamm, Enotri From the cash-strapped friend: 2011 Tenuta Montecchiesi Preziosaterra (Tuscany, Italy), $20 This poor man’s super-Tuscan is a lovely marriage of Sangiovese, Merlot, and Cabernet. Bright ruby, ripe berry aromas with a hint of cassis and cedar; full-bodied and harmonious; soft tannins, lingering finish.

From the rich uncle: 2009 Massimago Amarone (Veneto, Italy), $79 Winemaker Camilla Rossi’s masterpiece. Its mouth-filling richness is balanced by elegant acidity, ripe, firm tannins, ending with persistence.

Vintage Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut (Washington State, USA), $17 I would be pleased as punch to receive a bottle of Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut from my cashstrapped friends. It’s deliciously balanced, not too dry, not too sweet, with flavours of apples and citrus and a lively acidity.

A Feast of Holiday Delights for any Kitchen Connoisseur

From the rich uncle: Louis Roederer Brut Premier (Champagne, France), $70 My rich uncle knows my love of Champagne, and as he is so generous, he'll leave a case of Louis Roederer Brut Premier under the tree for me. A most elegant Champagne — vibrant, fresh and generous.

All-Clad • Emile Henry Wusthof • Le Creuset Cuisipro • Kitchen Aid Sign up for weekly cooking classes Gift Cards also available! #550, 220 Lakeland Dr., Sherwood Park 780.464.4631 www.thepantree.ca /ThePanTree

@PanTreeKitchen

hardware grill est. 1996

Jason Sanwell, Fluid Imports From the cashstrapped friend: 2012 Spy Valley Satellite Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand), $14

hardware grill est. 1996

Bright aromas and flavours of citrus, guava and stone fruit with a pleasing mineral finish. Graceful and delicately balanced, and amazing value for Kiwi Sauv Blanc.

hardware grill hardware grill est. 1996

est. 1996

From the rich uncle: 2009 Von Strasser Diamond Mountain Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Magnum (Napa Valley, USA), $240 (magnum) Loaded with dark fruit, black cherry, mocha and caramel Continued next page

seasonal prairie cuisine • the evolution of tradition www.hardwaregrill.com / 780.423.0969 / 9698 Jasper Ave also visit our newest downtown restaurant: tavern 1903 at alberta hotel

The Tomato | November December 2013 13

aromas, a hint of violet along with subtle cedar and vanilla in the velvety mid-palate. Lively tannins, full-bodied, with a lingering finish touched with flavours of sarsaparilla.

crushed red and black cherry fruit, essence of wild herbs that give way to spice, earth and a touch of minerality.

From the cashstrapped friend:

fact that it is made in my family’s region of Campania, less than an hour away from where my father was born. Montevetrano makes one wine — a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, and the local Aglianico grape — and a very small amount of it. I love its rich spice, tobacco, and black fruit. Pair with roasted red meats.

2011 De Morgenzon DMZ Syrah (Stellenbosch, South Africa), $18

Tara Smith Sherbrooke Liquor Store

Ryan Everitt, Trialto Juanita Roos, Crestwood Fine Wines & Spirits From the cash-strapped friend: 2011 Chateau Gres Saint Paul Romanis (AOC Coteaux du Languedoc, France), $22 A spicy, fruity red wine from the south of France which warms both the heart and soul. Rich, but still elegant, balanced and so darn tasty.

From the rich uncle: 2009 Trisaetum Pinot Noir (Oregon, USA) $56 A robust Pinot Noir nose and palate that over-delivers with tons of ripe fruit, spice and complexity. Really delicious.

Valerie Albrecht, Crush Imports From the cashstrapped friend: 2006 Bodegas Y Vinedos Del Jalon Claraval (Calatayud, Spain), $17 Old vine Grenache with alluring aromas of raspberry and black cherry enhanced with Asian spices, smoky mineral, violets. Gift this wine and the lucky recipient will indeed think you pulled out all the stops.

From the rich uncle: 2010 Palazzo Cabernet Franc (Napa Valley, California), $95 Scott Palazzo was first asked by chef Thomas Keller to produce an exclusive Cabernet Franc for his restaurants (French Laundry, Per Se and Bouchon). Only 250 cases were made of this elegant, seductively plush Cab Franc. The wine dances on the palate, offering

14 November December 2013 | The Tomato

De Morgenzon, 'the morning sun,' was so named because it is the first part of the Stellenboschkloof Valley to see the sun. Rich and full in the mouth, with tremendous youthful vigour. It’s an excellent buy.

From the rich uncle: 2011 Corton Clos des Cortons Faiveley Grand Cru (Burgundy, France), $185 The nose is powerful, concentrated, fruity and woody. We are in the presence of a wine of great volume, with firm yet supple tannins and long-lasting aromas and flavours. This is a fine wine for cellaring.

Daniel Costa, Corso 32 From the cash-strapped friend: 2011 Il Feuduccio Ceresuolo D’Abruzzo DOC Rosé (Abruzzo, Italy), $20 Christmas Eve dinner is always a feast of fish in my home and I will definitely be enjoying this rosé at some point in the meal. Pair with light pastas, seafood and white meats.

From the cash-strapped friend: 2010 Waterbrook Cabernet Sauvignon (Washington State, USA), $14 Nice, full-bodied, fruit forward Cab with surprising structure. Drinks well above its price point.

From the rich uncle: H. Blin 2004 Millésime (AOC Champagne, France), $52 Champagne! Always Champagne! And this vintage Champagne (brand new on the market) is priced well enough that Uncle Bob should buy two bottles. It's a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier from a small co-op in the Marne Valley area. Classic biscuity and honeyed aromas (from the five and half years this wine spent on its lees), and a grapefruit-fresh palate with delicate mousse.

Brandi Dawson, Sabor Divino From the cash-strapped friend: 2010 Candidato Tempranillo (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain), $17 Easy-drinking pizza wine.

From the rich uncle:

2005 Montevetrano (Colli di Salerno IGT, Italy), $125

2012 Arietta On the White Keys (Napa, USA), $80

This cult classic is one of my favourite wines from southern Italy. I also love the

A blend of Sauvignon and Semillon from vineyards on Sonoma Mountain, and in Carneros and Napa. I love the Keys because it is bold and has some stink to it.

Stacey-Jo Strombecky, Clarus Wine & Spirits, Nobilis Wine Importers Cash-strapped Friend: 2012 Domaine des Cotes de la Roche Beaujolais-Villages (France) $18 Red fruit with delicate spice notes, really amazing with Moroccan food, curries, and most fowl or pork dishes.

From the rich uncle: 2010 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune Greve L’Enfant Jesus (Burgundy, France), $150 Classic Beaune profile from one of the most well-respected names in Burgundy. Beautiful tension, harmonious acidity, smooth, with dark-red fruit notes, and trademark earthiness. Wellbuilt for long aging.

Tricia Bell, The Cavern From the cash-strapped friend: 2008 Castillo de Monséran Old Vines Garnacha (Cariñena, Spain), $15 I am impressed with the quality and affordability of Spanish wines. This wine is bold without being overbearing, slightly spicy and charming in one fell swoop.

From the rich uncle: 2006 Gaja Sorì Tildìn Langhe Nebbiolo (Piedmont, Italy), $500 Nebbiolo is like a best friend, never once letting me down. This wine holds a rich body with a velvetysmooth character expression that will leave palate memory to satisfy for a lifetime.

Natasha Susylynski Treasury Wine Estates From the cash-strapped friend: 2011 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay (South Australia), $18 Aromas of lime leaf and stone

fruit with flavours of lemon curd and lovely mineral acid make this Chardonnay crisp yet complex.

From the rich uncle: 2010 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz (South Australia), $60 Known globally as 'Baby Grange' because the wine is aged in barrels that held the previous vintage of Grange. A blend of Cabernet and Shiraz with intoxicating aromas of cola, bark berries, fig, vanilla, and leather. Created by the legendary Max Schubert, this ages as well as its inspiration, Grange.

Amanda LeNeve The Tomato food & drink From the cash-strapped friend: Bender Paulessen Dry Riesling (Mosel, Germany), $20 I fell madly in love with Riesling this summer — especially German Riesling. Winemaker Andreas Bender does a great job with this one, clearly honouring the traditional Mosel Riesling style, but adding his own modern spin to it. A little hit of effervescence off the top before the juicy, lemonade/ honey flavours take over your mouth. The textbook acidity and mineral characteristics leave the palate nice and clean, though, ready for the next sip. Think I might have to swap my Christmas morning tradition of coffee-andBaileys for a glass of Paulessen instead.

are even more so. Made of 100 per cent Nebbiolo, Barolos are often compared to Burgundy’s Pinot Noirs — delicate, yet hearty with pretty floral aromas accompanied by flavours you'll think about long after you've taken your last sip.

Barb Giacomin, WineQuest Wine & Spirit Brokers From the cash-strapped friend: 2011 Santa Maria La Palma “Le Bombarde” Cannonau (Sardinia, Italy), $20 This sophisticated Sardinian offers cherry, plum with leather, spice, and earth for an explosion of intricately woven wine goodness. It’s so tasty with everything, we can’t wait to open our next bottle.

Entertaining Simply Elegant

Our 2013 Holiday Collection cookbook is now available.

Featuring delicious recipes from appetizers to desserts, this cookbook is the perfect complement to any celebration.

From the rich uncle: Anvers ‘The Giant’ 2009 Old Vine Shiraz & Cabernet Sauvignon Magnum Auction Wine Package, $1,200 value A giant wine package, to be auctioned at the Boys & Girls Clubs Big Brothers & Big Sisters’ November fundraiser. The inaugural release of Giant (rated 94 points by Australian wine critic, James Halliday) is made from 95-year-old-vine Shiraz and 45-year-old-vine Cab Sauvignon from McLaren Vale.

From the rich uncle: 2006 E Para e Figli Chiara Boschis Cannubi Barolo (Piedmont, Italy), $100 I've finally started collecting wines that I want to age and could use Uncle's help when it comes to the pride of northwestern Italy, Barolo! Typically an age-worthy wine, research tells me the 2006s

Find wines at The Wine Cellar, Unwined, Liquor Select, Keg ‘n’ Cork, Crestwood, Petrolia, Sunterra Cellars, City Cellars, Lacombe Spirits, Ashton’s, deVine Wines, and other fine wine shops. Not all wines in all shops.

Order your copy today Visit atcoblueflamekitchen.com or call 1.800.840.3393

The Tomato | November December 2013 15

Sides

Place the dough on a floured work surface. Knead for about 45 seconds to combine. Cover dough. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Stuffing Mary Bailey

Holiday meals wouldn’t be holiday without the sides, the stuffing, the gravy, the potatoes, the cranberry sauce. The same every year, treasured family recipes. It’s remarkable how many of those family dishes actually came out of a box or a can (canned cranberry sauce plopped into a saucepan, not bad, really). We can do better. Several of our most creative chefs are ready to help. Perhaps you’re not up to making gnocchi for the hols but roasting sweet potatoes with some delicious embellishments? Child’s play.

creamy polenta

kale and apple en cocotte

Blair Lebsack, RGE RD Kale and apples and cheese, oh boy. ¼ c canola oil, and more as needed ½

onion, sliced

4 c kale, ribs removed and chopped into small pieces 1 clove

garlic, chopped

2 T

butter

¾ c

vegetable stock

¼ c

apple purée

¼ c

white wine

Tracy Zizek, Café de Ville Tracy serves this ultra-creamy and easyto-make polenta with sous vide beef and greens. Who needs potatoes?

2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced

3 c

homogenized milk

3 c

10 per cent cream

1 c

cornmeal

½ c

(1 stick) butter, cubed

1 c

fresh corn kernels (optional)

salt and white pepper to taste Place corn (if using) on baking sheet and roast in oven until lightly browned. Pour milk and cream in a heavybottomed pot and bring to simmer. Add cornmeal and stir. Continue to stir until consistency is like soft oatmeal. Remove from heat, season, and swirl in cubed butter until fully incorporated. Add in roasted corn. Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

16 November December 2013 | The Tomato

salt and pepper

¾ c

grated Sylvan Star Gouda

2 T

lemon thyme

Heat large pan, add canola oil and onion and sauté. Add kale, cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Then add garlic and apples, cook for another 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with white wine, cook for a minute, add vegetable stock, apple purée, lemon thyme, and butter. Stir to incorporate all liquids with vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Mix in half the Gouda. Pour into cast iron cocotte or oven-safe dish and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. If mixture has absorbed all of the liquid, add more stock or butter. Bake in 350°F oven until heated through. Serves 4 to 6.

roasted sweet potatoes with pistachios, parmigiano and balsamico

“The combination of sweet potato with properly-aged balsamico, crunchy pistachios, and salty Parmigiano is perfect for the cold months. The best part of this dish is snacking on the dark bits of sweet potato sugar while you are plating. Use high quality Balsamico — it is expensive, but it makes a big difference.” Daniel Costa. 3-4 med sweet potatoes, peeled and cleaned 3 T pistachios, roasted at 350°F for 8 minutes 2 T high quality balsamic vinegar

pan to the oven and continue cooking for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked and caramelized. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt if needed. Place cooked potatoes on a serving dish, grate some Parmigiano over, drizzle with balsamico, top with pistachios and black pepper. Serves 4.

crispy ricotta gnocchi Daniel Costa, Corso 32 Daniel makes his own delightful ricotta, but we may have to satisfy ourselves with commercial. We like Franco’s available in 454g tubs at the Italian Centre.

3 T

olive oil

2 knobs

butter, cut into small pieces

½ kg (approx 1 lb) fresh ricotta, use sheep milk ricotta if possible

1½ t

kosher salt

1 egg

fresh sage leaves

¾ c

Parmigiano

black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut sweet potatoes in half moon ¾-inch pieces. In a bowl, toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and sage. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Keep them close to avoid burning. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, move the potatoes around and evenly distribute the cold butter over the potatoes. Return the

flour

½ c Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated 1 t

nutmeg

1 t

kosher salt

olive oil for frying

Place the ricotta in a fine strainer over a bowl. Allow to strain overnight. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, cheese, nutmeg, and salt until well combined. Add the flour and mix to combine.

Divide the dough into four. Roll each piece into 2 cm cylinders on a floured surface. Cut each cylinder into 2 cm pieces. Set aside on a floured surface. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a handful of salt. Gently add gnocchi to boiling water. Once gnocchi float up to the top of the pot, allow to cook for an additional minute. Then, using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the gnocchi and place in an ice bath (bowl of water and ice). Allow the gnocchi to cool for 5 minutes. Strain the gnocchi removing any ice, and place the gnocchi on a flat surface. Dry slightly by patting with a cloth. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. Carefully add the gnocchi to the pan (the oil may splash slightly if too much water is left on the gnocchi). Allow the gnocchi to fry. Do not move gnocchi for at least 3 minutes — moving will not allow them to become crispy. Once the gnocchi are golden on the pan side, flip and allow to crisp on the other. Remove from the pan and serve immediately with a little grated Parmigiano.

¼ t 1/ 8

kosher salt black pepper

Start by cooking the beets. We use golden beets, but if you prefer red, striped, or candy cane, use those. The beets need to be cooked to 95 per cent done, they should still have a little bite to them. Combine sugar and cornstarch, then add to the vinegar, water, honey and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. Add cooked beets and simmer, then add in the butter and seasoning. Serves 4-6.

ice wine-glazed green beans dressing for beans 1 t

Dijon mustard

1 large

shallot, diced

1 clove

garlic

½ c

white balsamic vinegar

1/ 8

honey

1 T

lemon juice

¼ c

ice wine (dessert wine)

½ c oil (preferably cold-pressed canola oil) 1 T

butter

Place all ingredients except oil and butter in a blender. Blend ingredients and slowly drizzle in canola oil. Reserve emulsified dressing for green beans.

Serves 4 to 6.

The dressing will work for about 2 lbs of green beans.

alberta wildflower honey-glazed beets

beans

Nathin Bye, Wildflower Grill “Two of my favourites. Both recipes have been used in my home for years, and the beets recipe has been passed down now three generations, with a few tweaks.” Nathin Bye 4 c

beets

½ c

white sugar

2 T

cornstarch

1/ 3

white balsamic vinegar

1/ 3

water (use the water that you cook the beets in for extra flavour)

¼ c

Alberta wildflower honey

3 T

unsalted butter

3 T sesame oil (untoasted) or neutral vegetable oil 2 t

black mustard seed

½ t asafoetida (hing) powder (optional)*

juice of one large lime

Wash apples, cut in quarters and core. Slice into thick batons about 2 cm by 5 cm and place in medium bowl.

Transfer sautéed kale mixture to serving bowl. Spread roasted apples over and finish with pumpkin seeds. Serve warm. Serves 4 to 6.

Add salt, cayenne and turmeric and mix well.

classic herb stuffing

Warm 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a small skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop, about 1 minute. Turn off heat and stir in asafoetida, then add contents of skillet to bowl. Add remaining oil and lime juice and mix well. Leave 15 minutes for flavour to infuse. Store refrigerated up to 3 days. Makes about 3 cups. * Find asafetida, also called hing powder, at the Spice Centre (9280 34 Avenue).

sautéed kale with roasted ambrosia apples

turmeric

1 head celery, leaves trimmed of any yellow or dark bits, chopped fine 1 lg bunch parsley, chopped fine 1 pkg turkey herb mix trimmed of woody stems and stalks, chopped fine (or 6 sage leaves, chopped, and 2-3 sprigs thyme trimmed, chopped fine)

4 c

white wine

3 Ambrosia (or gala) apples, cored and cut into six pieces

Preheat oven to 350°F.

3 T

toasted pumpkin seeds

1 lg

shallot, finely diced

¾ c (approx 150 mL) neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed

½ t

yellow onions, chopped fine

chicken or vegetable stock

With all the sweet things around over the holidays, this fresh and spicy pickle is a welcome contrast. Adapted from the New York Times.

½ t cayenne or other hot red chili powder

3 med

½ c

vinaigrette

salt

butter (2 sticks) butter

1 lg bunch kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped

fresh apple pickle

1 t

1 c

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

1½ t canola oil, or 1 t canola and ½ t pumpkin seed oil

crisp apples

Like your momma used to make — redolent of fried onions, celery, sage and thyme. You can gild the lily, but this will always be a stuffing to come home to.

Mike Scorgie, Woodwork Earthy kale in a honey mustard vinaigrette with sautéed apples and pumpkin seeds.

Lightly blanch green beans in salted water. Toss in dressing and add 1 tablespoon butter. Toss again to make sure butter has melted and serve. Serves 4-6.

Place a medium skillet on medium heat. Add canola oil, mustard seed and shallots and cook for 1 minute. Add kale, toss and cook through for 1 to 2 minutes, then season to taste with vinaigrette, salt and pepper.

¼ c

demerara sugar

1 t

mustard seed

salt and pepper

¼ c (approx 50 mL) cider vinegar 1 T

honey

1 t seedless Dijon mustard

10 c fresh torn bread or large bread crumbs

Melt butter in a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook stirring often until soft and translucent, about 20 minutes. Add celery, parsley, herbs, and wine. Season and cook, stirring often, for about 5-10 minutes until the wine is absorbed. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add bread to onion mixture and mix together until well combined. Add stock and mix until stuffing is just moistened. Do not over mix. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Place stuffing mixture into a baking dish and cook until fragrant and golden about 30 to 45 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Coat apples in sugar and evenly distribute on a rimmed bake sheet. Bake apples for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing half way through. Keep in warming oven.

The Tomato | November December 2013 17

the proust culinary questionnaire Marjorie Bencz, Executive Director of Edmonton’s Food Bank In the late nineteenth century, French novelist Marcel Proust participated in an exercise which could be thought of as the Facebook of its era — he answered a questionnaire about himself in a friend’s Confession Album. Proust’s answers have been published, in one form or another, for more than a century. Many have used the questionnaire for their own devices, the most notable being Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire featuring celebrities. The Tomato now gives it a culinary twist. Marjorie Bencz has helped redefine how we think of community, especially how we think about food in our community. Accolades span two decades, including 1997’s honorary diploma from Grant MacEwan University; 2000 Global TV’s Woman of Vision; the Order of Canada in 2006; and 2012 YWCA Woman of Distinction award.

Alberta. There are a lot of small cities and towns in Alberta that we should celebrate. Your favourite food and drink? I really like saskatoons and blueberries, the flavour and texture of the fruit as you eat them while you pick. I like my coffee.

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing? I do like mucking around outside gardening, or something with kids and horses.

What do you most appreciate in your friends? Steadfast loyalty. Most of my long-time friends have been with me through good times and bad. They are not frivolous. Your favourite qualities in a volunteer? Dependability, predictability, reliability, trustworthiness. We have about 4000 people coming through as volunteers every year. What are your favourite qualities in a donor ? Steadfast loyalty — it’s not a matter of how much, it’s the ongoing relationship that’s important. Who would be at your dream dinner table (dead or alive)? That answer might vary from day

to day. Bob Wyatt from the Muttart Foundation; I appreciate his professional leadership. Joyce Kelly is a farrier and riding partner. She talks about horses and agriculture and animals — the other end of the spectrum. Who would cook? Bob and Joyce are both really good cooks. Bob is gourmet, Joyce is rural, pies and chili, homemade breads. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? That’s not the hill I’m going to die on. Current obsession/exploration? One of the things we struggle with is that we are a leader in food security and we have great partnerships organizations that are

not as well-known. I wonder how we can do business better, how do we grow those organizations? How do we work more collaboratively? Meaningful/crazy experience? It’s crazy that I do what I do. I’m much more of an introvert than this position requires. I struggle with a lot of people and public speaking. Best thing that ever happened to you? Three lovely daughters and beautiful grandchildren. When I received the Order of Canada, my volunteers and staff said: ‘we have an Order of Canada!’ That’s important to me, that everyone felt responsible for that.

great mentors: Bob Wyatt, Joyce Kelly, Liz O’Neill (Big Brothers Big Sisters), Martin GarberConrad (Edmonton Community Foundation). My mum is a special person in my life, and you learn from your kids, and you learn from grandchildren. What’s next? We have a succession plan as an organization and we have a wonderful team; I’m very well supported and have great people around me. I keep thinking I should slow down a little, take holidays, not work such long hours, but I’m not convinced I know how to do that.

Mentors? That’s where I’ve been really fortunate, some wonderful people,

In a season that’s all about abundance and joy, the message of the Food Bank is even more vital — that it’s up to us as a community to share that abundance in every possible way. Hometown? Edmonton, born and raised Years in food bank biz? I started as a volunteer in 1987, and was hired in December 1987. I’ve been the executive director since 1989. We were formed in 1981 as the Edmonton Gleaners Association. Though our size and scope has changed, 80 per cent of the food is still gleaned from warehouses, grocery stores, farmers, food stores, grocery, Northlands, and Shaw. Where would you like to live? I love Edmonton. I do have farmland in rural Alberta in the west Edson area, and two of my daughters live in rural

18 November December 2013 | The Tomato

The Tomato | November December 2013 19

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| peter bailey

Cheers to chocolate If it ain’t chocolate, it ain’t dessert. What about apple pie, you ask? Crème brûlée? Ginger cookies? Surely you agree these would all be much better drizzled with chocolate? My chocophilia comes from both sides of my family and can be traced back to their English roots. As a teen, dining in Lancashire with English relatives, I quickly realized that the main course was just something to be endured in order to get to the sweets. Alas, this often meant something appalling like trifle or spotted dick (pudding), but the follow-up was always solid, sensible — and delicious — British chocolate. At her first Christmas dinner with my family years ago, my wife was stunned to see a big box of chocolates go round and round the dinner table until they were all gone. No shame in eating ten After Eights in one-go in my family. My chief enabler was my Englishborn grandmother, Gring. Her annual Christmas gift of a Terry’s Chocolate Orange started me on a path from which there has been no turning. Nowadays, I simply combine my love of chocolate with my love of beer. Of course, for some people, beer and chocolate seem to go together like chalk and cheese. In fact, chocolate and beer go back a long

20 November December 2013 | The Tomato

callthekettleblack.com

INSURANCE

beer guy

Black as night six pack

way. Recent archeological research dates the first use of cacao to 1100 B.C. in Central America. Back then people were enjoying a fermented beer made from cacao — essentially chocolate beer. Beer and chocolate actually have things in common. Cacao beans must ferment before chocolate can be produced from them, and the resulting raw chocolate isn’t sweet but bitter, like hops in beer. Likewise, chocolate-like flavours and aromas are present in porters or stouts, coming from the roasted malts used. Some brewers go a step further, actually adding cocoa or chocolate to their beers. Young’s Double Chocolate Stout from England and Phillip’s Longboat Chocolate from BC are delicious examples of brewing with chocolate. Other brewers add coffee, as in Yukon’s Midnight Sun Espresso Stout; or fruit, as in Wild Rose’s Cherry Porter. A few years ago, I managed to get my hands on a single bottle of Alley Kat’s one-off holiday gift to their friends, a Chocolate Orange Porter. A trifecta of awesomeness: a great local brewery plus chocolate orange plus porter ale. I’m told it is delicious. But to this day, the bottle sits unopened in my beer cellar. It simply makes me happy knowing such an ideal beer exists in the world, and one sits in my house. And sometimes wishes come true: Alley Kat has once again produced their Chocolate Orange Porter, this time for everyone!

Six scrumptious stouts, all as black as Alberta bitumen. Pair with holiday chocolate from your favourite local chocolatier. All beer available at Sherbrooke Liquor or Keg ‘n Cork.

Townsite Perfect Storm Oatmeal Stout, Powell River, BC Breweries are growing like kudzu in BC, popping up in unexpected places like Tofino and Powell River. Townsite brews some great dark beers, like their Pow Town Porter and this rich, round, roasty oatmeal stout. Brewed big for the winter season with flaked oats, roasted barley, and chocolate malt.

Charlevoix La Vache Folle Imperial Milk Stout, Quebec Milk in beer? Not quite. Lactose, or milk sugar, is added to this stout for sweetness and a creamy mouth feel, balancing the bitter chocolate and burnt caramel. The Charlevoix brewers advise that “this dark brew is meant to be discovered slowly, lying down on your favourite couch, with squares of dark chocolate.”

Deschutes Obsidian Stout, Portland, OR One of the beer highlights of 2013 was the long-awaited arrival of Deschutes beer in Alberta. Based in Bend, Oregon, Deschutes has done things their own way, such as brewing dark beers when their colleagues were brewing pale ales. Obsidian is a wonderful, deep and robust stout with chocolate and espresso notes.

Orkney Dragonhead Stout, Orkney, Scotland

NEW LOWER PRICES!

Dark beer from the dark island of Scotland. At 59º north, Orkney is further north than Edmonton (53°), and so Orkney’s brewers know exactly what sort of beer is needed for the long, dark winter. Brewer Norman Sinclair suggests pairing this roasty, full-flavoured stout with venison or chocolate pudding.

Malka Dry Stout, Israel Back in the Biblical day, there was a Jewish man in Galilee making wine from water and other miracles. Two thousand years later, we can celebrate the birth of that man with a beer made by Jewish men in Galilee. This delicious, Irish-style dry stout from the Israeli desert may not be miraculous but it sure is marvelous.

THE QUEEN OF TOASTERS Hand Assembled in the UK

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Renaissance Craftsman Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, New Zealand New Zealand was a hot spot in 2013, with many Edmontonians paying a visit. While most of us will never make the trek south, we can enjoy many of the new Kiwi beers making their way to Alberta. Here Renaissance takes their tasty porter and adds oats for smoothness and cocoa nibs for a chocolate nose and taste. Peter Bailey agrees with Flann O’Brien: “When life looks black as the hour of night, a pint of plain is your only man.” He tweets as @Libarbarian.

The Tomato | November December 2013 21

Far out & Fabulous for the Culinarily-Obsessed Somebody, somewhere will get a sports car for Christmas and somebody else will get a church calendar. Let’s just hope everybody gets what they want. What to get the culinary-obsessed? Consider these far out and fabulous ideas in every price range.

a cooking school like no other In Puglia with Silvestro Silvestori What better way to understand the heart and soul of a region than through its food culture, during a week spent way down the heel of the Italian boot, at the Awaiting Table Cookery School? The promise: You will get your hands dirty. You will meet the locals. You will make friends. You will eat and drink and laugh, but you won’t ever see Italy or Italian food and wine exactly the same way again.

Silvestro Silvestori’s cooking and wine school in Lecce is the stuff of dreams — where do we sign up? At awaitingtable.com. In the Perigord with Marnie Fudge and Thierry Meret Chefs and culinary instructors Marnie Fudge and Thierry Meret of Calgary’s Cuisine et Chateau cooking school offer gastronomic adventures in the Perigord region of France. What happens during their cooking weeks? “We stay at a private estate, not a hotel, nobody else is there but us,” says Marnie. “

“Every day there is a handson cooking experience and an agricultural experience; a farm or market visit, or we go to a vineyard and picnic in the vines. We are in Bergerac and close to the historic Chateau Monbazillac. But nothing is forced. If you want to sit by the pool or go for a bike ride, that’s OK too. “It’s a personal experience, for people looking for something truly authentic, not overly packaged and definitely luxurious,” says Marnie. Perigord Culinary Tour, June 1-June, cuisineandchateau.com

go play with your food The MOLECULE-R Cuisine R-evolution and Cocktail R-evolution kits are culinary chemistry sets that give you the tools to make your own pop rocks, or caviar from spinach, or turn bacon into powder for your Bloody Mary bites. The kits contain all the texturing agents, emulsifiers and stabilizers you need to gel, spherify and deconstruct in your kitchen. You haven’t had this much fun since your first Easy Bake oven, $65, at Call the Kettle Black.

“The food culture permeates everything here. The grocery store has a Costco-sized aisle filled with duck confit. This is the land of walnuts, truffles and duck, after all. The strawberry lady at the market has eight types of strawberry, just picked. She’ll say ‘these five you need to eat within six hours, this one is for jam, this one is best macerated with some eau de vie.’

one knife is suitable for soft and creamy cheeses, one for semi-soft and one for hard cheeses.

Not so far out, but certainly fabulous and eminently useful. Who isn’t in need of a good cheese knife? This set has three — made of fullyforged Japanese stainless steel —

22 November December 2013 | The Tomato

Pain d’ici

Proud to make our breads from Alberta-grown grains.

gaga over aga Nigella Lawson has an Aga. So does Gerard Depardieu, and Jamie Oliver supposedly has three. My neighbour has one, a stunning fire engine red four-door model, named Phillipa. What’s the deal with the alwayson-heavy-duty stove called an Aga cooker, that we think of as quintessentially British?

“She’s the living heart of our house, where everybody congregates,” says my nieghbour, Nicole Hiebert. “It took about a week to figure out what cooked where; Agas are kind of quirky. She’s also great for drying laundry and warming doggie blankets.” Made in Britain since the 1930s, Aga cookers work on the principle that cast iron absorbs heat, and the accumulated heat is used on demand for cooking. No knobs, no dials, the surface and the compartments, which give the Aga its distinctive, reassuringly sturdy look, are each meant for a specific task. Once you turn it on, you never have to turn it off. But let’s not think there has been no technological march forward; the new models

Above: Awaiting Table Cookery School, right: Chateau Monbazillac.

Bonjour

Three-piece set in an ecologicallyfriendly moso bamboo box, $55, at Paddy’s Cheese.

It’s actually Swedish, or at least was invented in Sweden, by the Nobel Prize-winning Swedish physicist Gustaf Dalén, who wanted his wife and maid to have it a bit easier in the kitchen.

cheese knife set with bamboo gift box

Boulangerie

Boulangerie Bonjour 8612-99 Street 780.433.5924 | www.bonjourbakery.com

called iTotal Control not only can be turned on and off, they can be programmed by text message. Agas are not exactly an appliance you can heave into the trunk of your car. Each weighs over half a ton, and are built on site. Expect to spend about $30,000. (You can spend less. The Professional series starts at about $13,000.) Or you could spend more and invest in their blingier, fullycustom French cousin, La Cornue which range from $60,000 $100,000. Avenue Appliances is the best place to investigate the Aga phenomena. They have several Agas, “live” says owner Faith Geisbrecht. You will never ever worry again as to whether or not you turned off the stove.

pots and pans for your induction cook top Induction cook tops require specific types of cookware. Consider Zwilling Sensation for its high performance features: the proprietary SIGMA Clad fiveply stainless and copper layers create even distribution right to the edge of the pans — no hot spots. Stainless steel darkens over time. Not these, as the interiors are coated with Silvinox, an electrochemical treatment that creates a silvery glossy finish which resists oxidation. The ergnomic, stay-cool handles have interior welds, making them easy to clean and they have a shot-blasted finish, impervious to scratches and fingerprints. Sensation is ideal for every cooktop, not just induction.

for sale A locally owned and operated gourmet food company

Well-priced, well-made. The ten-piece set on offer at an introductory price is made in Belgium, $1,000. In 1986 Joanne Zinter began producing gourmet condiments, appetizers and seasonings. The line now boasts 24 high quality products that are unique, tasty and easy to serve. This is an ideal opportunity for any entrepreneur interested in owning an established food business with infinite growth potential.

Please contact Joanne Zinter jzinter@zinterbrown.com Visit our web site at www.zinterbrown.com

The Tomato | November December 2013 23

drink

With the wassailing bowl: resurrecting the festive tradition of wassail

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On a stiff winter solstice in a cabin on Sturgeon Lake near Grande Prairie, I find myself neatly studding oranges with cloves. “Oh, I used to do that,” my mother-in-law Cheryl exclaims. “We used to put them in the closet to freshen the air.” She looks intrigued as these oranges slide into the oven with a different agenda. Just the thing for a frigid -27°C morning: resurrecting the festive tradition of wassail. Many of us are familiar with the jaunty holiday tune, or at least a variation that replaces a-wassailing with a-caroling, conjuring nostalgic notions of a scarf-wrapped choir visiting door-to-door. Yet as I attempt my recreation, I soon discover that this beverage and its customs are dizzyingly ancient. Essentially wassail is apple cider — spiked with ale and/or wine — mulled with extra spices and bobbing roasted oranges or lemons. Considering the strong attachment this tradition has to orchards, my sweetie Kelsey and I sit at the kitchen table to peel and quarter a dozen Macintosh apples for the cider. As these simmer just underwater for a few hours, I lob a sachet d’épices into the stockpot — whole cloves, allspice berries, cinnamon sticks. At England’s University of Leicester, professor Philip Shaw researches medieval literature. He illuminates the depth of the history behind wassail. “The phrase wassail appears to derive from the Old English wæs h¯al, meaning ‘be well’,” Shaw tells me. The Old English word h¯al means whole or healthy, and gives us the word heal. “As far as I know, the earliest reference to the phrase wassail

24 November December 2013 | The Tomato

as a toast occurs in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae,” says Shaw. Although Geoffrey’s 1136 text is now known to be largely embellished, he depicts Rowena as greeting the Briton King Vortigern with the phrase wæs h¯al in 449 when her father, the Jute chief Hengist, offered her hand in marriage in exchange for the Kingdom of Kent. This is the seminal moment in which the Anglo-Saxon tribes took advantage of the power vacuum left by the Romans to conquer Britain in the late 5th and 6th centuries. I ask Shaw whether wassail could be a tradition the Anglo-Saxons brought with them to Britain from their Danish/Germanic territories. “We do not know, of course, whether this reflects a genuine earlier tradition or not. We have no evidence on precisely what was involved in AngloSaxon celebrations of Yule or M¯odraniht.” Yule, which dates back to at least the 4th century, was a winter celebration that took place during the 12 days following the fertility holiday of M¯odraniht (Mother’s Night) on December 24th. Kelsey and I partially core half a dozen more apples that will be packed with cane sugar and roasted alongside my two studded oranges at 250°F for about an hour. I’d searched for an authentic recipe, but there is no singular means of making wassail. In Robert Herrick’s 1648 book Hesperides, his poem “Twelfth Night: Or, King and Queen,” includes this recipe: Next, crown the bowl full With gentle lambs-wool; Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, With store of ale too; And thus ye must do To make the wassail a swinger.

Once the cider is strained, it’s heated (not boiled), the booze is added, and it’s inoculated with a new spice sachet to imbibe it with Herrick’s nutmeg and ginger, plus more allspice and cinnamon. At everyone’s request, I substitute rum for ale. You probably noticed Herrick’s mention of lambs-wool. This is basically whipped eggs, or a drink made from them. The frothiness is supposed to be reminiscent of wool. If this makes your stomach churn, remember that another holiday beverage from that era is eggnog. I beat the egg whites until they almost become meringue and then I fold the yolks back into them. But before adding it to the concoction, I enter strategic negotiations that result in compromises with everyone that there will be a larger egg-free batch of wassail. In Herrick’s day, wassailing was reaching new heights. All affluent houses had special wassailing bowls, often made from a newly discovered hardwood called lignum-vitae from lands in and around the Caribbean Sea. Wassailing bowls were carved from a single log on a lathe to create a large vessel on a pedestal, topped with an ornately carved lid that included a smaller acorn-shaped bowl for spices. These sets were usually equipped with several durable cups. I don’t have any special cups, but I turn on some wassailing songs to make the event more festive. There’s a cornucopia of songs about this drink. The old Gloucestershire song testifies to the importance of the bowls: Wassail, wassail all over the town, Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown. Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree, With the wassailing bowl, we’ll drink to thee. In The Accomplisht Cook, printed in 1660, Robert May tells us to top off

our wassail with pieces of sopping bread. “Drinks used to be served sometimes with a piece of toast in them,” Shaw explains. “That tradition has led to our modern usage of the word as a verb: to toast someone or something.”

A huge selection of fresh cheeses as well as one-of-a-kind gift baskets and cheese trays for the holidays

Tour through Southern England on January 17th and you’re likely to hear some strange noises. That’s because many of these villages have maintained the old traditions of wassailing, particularly orchard wassailing. This is cider country, and what better to improve productivity than chasing away evil spirits? In Maplehurst, West Sussex, John Batcheldor owns an orchard that gets the full treatment every year. “He’s only small scale with three acres of cider apple orchards, producing about a thousand gallons of cider per year,” says Jackie Johnson, the cider coordinator for the Campaign for Real Ale in West Sussex. She tells me that they typically get a turnout of between 70 and 200 people. Apple-howling is what they call their wassailing around here, Johnson says proudly. The ceremony includes marching into the orchard while making “a big hullabaloo” to scare away the evil spirits, including firing a shotgun. They also place pieces of toast in the tree. Johnson laughs that the toast “has to be put there by virgins, a bit of a problem sometimes!” This wassail is a strange drink that has intimate ties to the history of Britain. The origin of the verb toast, has survived Christianization, and has the power to invoke a good apple harvest. But when I drink this warm spiced beverage in our cabin on a snowy winter solstice, there is only one thing to know about it: it makes everyone happy. Jared Bernard has a bachelor of science degree and he loves learning new things about the world.

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The Tomato | November December 2013 25

wine maven cheese and buttermilk fried chicken at Kitchen. It will be hard to taste tomato soup ever again without the company of the Glendronach Revival. Stewart explained how sherry casks affect the taste; “The character should be 60 per cent identified to the cask, and 40 per cent to the distillery,” he says. We enjoyed 15-year-old Revival (100 per cent Oloroso cask-finished); the elegant Cask Strength Batch 2 (Oloroso and sweet Pedro Ximénez casks); the Ben Riach 1977 Cask 1892 (Jamaican rum-finished), and BenRiach Birnie Moss, a rare Speyside peated whisky. The entertaining Buchanan brings several decades of production experience to his role, and has been at BenRaich since master distiller Billy Walker bought the distillery in 2005.

penfolds’ matt lange had heard about this guy throwing monumental Grange tastings in Texas, “ says DLynn Proctor. That guy was DLynn Proctor, now the winemaking ambassador for Penfolds and one of the four master sommelier candidates followed in the documentary SOMM. DLynn relates fascinating Penfolds history as we taste impeccable wines with an outrageous line up of tasty dishes that just keep coming from the Tavern 1903 kitchen. For example: we learn there’s no sure thing with Grange— the lots that could be Grange (the absolute top-notch fruit) are always tasted blind to make the final blend; and that St Henri has been made in the same large (1400-2200 litre) barrels since 1953. The Bin 389 is always pretty much half and half Cab. “ This is the wine Max Schubert wanted to make, “ says DLynn. “This is what he would have been tasting in the 50’s when Bordeaux was blended with Hermitage.”

stewart buchanan, brand ambassador for The BenRiach, and its sister distillery GlenDronach, led a tasting with a back-to-school lunch of tomato soup, grilled

26 November December 2013 | The Tomato

roberto d’onofrio of piedmont’s Tenuta Carretta Estate came to Massimo’s to introduce Villa Ile wines. The two whites and two Counter-clockwise from top left: DLynn reds are food- and walletProctor flanked by Dix Richards (L) and friendly, with all but the Bill Tanasichuk of Bin 104; from left: Barbaresco priced close Stewart Buchanan with Tara Smith to or under $20. That, (Sherbrooke) and Steve Richard (Vines); dear reader, means you Roberto D’Onofrio with Tricia Bell of can drink a deliciously Cavern; Jura Distillery’s Willie Tait; juicy, fragrant Nebbiolo Antonio Álvarez with Doreen Prei of the whenever you like — not Edmonton Petroleum Club. just for special occasions. Another highlight was the Arneis, its aromatic qualities, full body and rich texture due to the “ unique microclimate of the vineyard,” says Roberto. Fans of characterful whites will love it. Enjoy with cheesy pastas.

antonio álvarez, export director of premium cava house Agustí Torelló Mata, paired several cava with a sublime menu by Edmonton Petroleum Club’s director of culinary development, chef Doreen Prei. The house is known for exceptional fruit quality and technical innovation, having opened the first analytical lab in the cava region (95 per cent of cava is produced in Penedes, near Barcelona). “Before, noone really knew what happened when they made wine. He established a system, a method. Now we control all processes,

we cultivate our own yeast, and produce the high quality base wine. The Agusti Torelló Mati vineyards are between 30-60 yrs old. “The Parellada provides acidity to the blend, Macabeu elegance and xarel·lo for strength. We use more Macabeu generally. All our cava are aged for a minimum 15 months, the reserve 24 months, gran reserva 40 months. Cava is not just bubbles for parties, you can enjoy at any moment. It complements all kinds of foods very well.”

willie tait, jura single malt scotch whisky There are 5000 deer, 200 people, one road and one distillery (reimagined in 1963, after several decades of disuse) on the isle of Jura. One of those people, Master distiller Willie Tait, ambassador for the Jura distillery, charmed a sold-out tasting at Chateau Louis recently. We tasted several exceptional whiskys while Willie spun tales and dispensed whisky advice. Jura is powerful whisky without the salty, iodine characters in typical island drams. He credits the designer of the distillery, William DelméEvans, who created the almost 10-metre tall stills. “The second distillation, the mother, from those tall stills, is the heart of Jura.” And the water, flowing through quartz stone. It’s a soft and gentle water,” he says, “creating a light, delicate spirit.” Tasted: Origin 10 year old, lightly-peated, (bourbon-finished casks); Diurachs’ Own, 16 years old (Oloroso sherryfinished casks) the heavily-peated Prophecy mellows in Limousine (French) oak and is bottled without chill filtration, and Superstition, a blend of lightly-peated malts up to 21 years old. Willie left us with this: “Keep drinking good Scotch whisky. I hope it’s Jura.”

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event calendar saturday november 2

tuesday, november 19

Co-Op’s World of Whiskey and Cognac Gala, coopwinespiritsbeer.com

Masi Wine Dinner Nello’s South, 780-988-6699

tuesday, november 5

tuesday, november 26

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Sorrentino’s Truffle and Hazelnut Dinner, Bistecca Italian Steakhouse, 780-439-7335

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friday, november 8

tuesday, november 26

Sorrentino’s Scotch Dinner Sorrentino’s Downtown 780-424-7500

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Accidental Sommelier Series: Holiday Sparkle; Unwined, 780-458-4777

friday, november 8

wednesday, november 27

Tuscany vs. Napa Winemakers’ Dinner, Edmonton Country Club scott.hippe@edmontoncountryclub.com

Sorrentinos Truffle Cooking Class Sorrentino’s Cooking School, 780-474-6466

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Ample free parking at rear with rear entrance available. Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Sunday, hours vary.

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The Tomato | November December 2013 27

Introducing Primo Taglio

gingerbread

Meats & Cheeses

houses

a gingerbread house making party

Created with impeccable detail paid to taste and prepared with care to invoke Old-World sensibilities, Primo Taglio offers thoughtfully crafted, artisan quality meats and cheeses made with quality ingredients for a premium taste. Available now exclusively at your Safeway deli counter.

jan hostyn

I took a deep breath and surveyed the damage. Well, not damage, exactly. Complete and utter chaos might be more accurate. You see, my usually-somewhat-presentable dining room, along with everything in it, was splattered with white blobs. Walls, floor, ceiling, the light fixture hanging from the ceiling, table, chairs, even the eight little bodies, kind-of-sitting, kind-ofstanding and most-definitelysquirming in those chairs, were spattered.

An idyllic picture of adorable kids scrupulously decorating gingerbread houses caught my eye. Next to it was a detailed description of everything you would ever need to know to throw your very own gingerbreadhouse-decorating party: recipes, a pattern, step-by-step instructions.

What had I been thinking?

I bought everything I needed (along with some stuff I didn’t) well in advance: paper plates and candy and baking ingredients and streamers and balloons.

The plan had been to host a simple gingerbread house decorating party, the kind with cute homemade gingerbread houses, plate after plate of impossibly tempting candy, individual bowls full of ultra-sticky icing and a bunch of extremely-excited-but-ohso-patient-and-tidy little people. At least, that’s what I thought. I had carelessly neglected to take into account one little detail, however: I had never even attempted anything remotely gingerbread-ish before, let alone a single gingerbread house. Those little people? Eight of them, three years old. Patient, tidy and three years old simply do not go together, ever. The whole idea popped into my head one afternoon as I was flipping through a cookbook.

28 November December 2013 | The Tomato

What could be more perfect for my daughter’s birthday party, whose big day happens to land during the week before Christmas?

When it came to whipping up the dough, cutting out the pieces and assembling the houses, it didn’t even cross my mind to do it weeks ahead of time. The dough wasn’t a problem — after all, I had been making cookie dough for almost as long as I had been eating cookies.

pieces involved a lot of cutting. Unfortunately, since my newly acquired gingerbread cutting skills were somewhat challenged that day, it also involved patching up all those less-than-stellar edges. Cut, repair, cut, repair, cut, repair — and maybe the odd curse or two. Finally, a grand total of two-and-aquarter houses sat before me. Moving all of those carefully cut-out pieces onto the waiting cookie sheets turned out to be the next deceptively complex task. Much sticking ensued, followed by numerous attempts on my part to re-figure the now somewhat disfigured pieces. A couple of uncooperative pieces refused to be salvaged at all, dropping my total house count from just over two houses to just under two. Then I repeated that whole process with the other three disks of dough.

Rolling out the dough — well, rolling it out to a uniform thickness — proved to be a bit trickier. That required rolling, re-rolling, and then rolling again. Eventually, I gave my lopsided effort a passing grade and moved on.

Many hours later, everything was baked. One last tally of the gingerbread pieces revealed my addition skills were somewhat lacking that day — I was short one roof and one wall piece. Since almost eight houses for eight kids was not the plan, I retrieved leftover scraps of dough from the fridge and started rolling again.

Taking the carefully traced and cut-out pattern pieces and transforming my slab of lopsided dough into individual house

When it came to putting together the actual houses, who knew there was going to be such a learning curve to holding multiple pieces of

gingerbread while attempting to apply icing? These houses weren’t going to lack character, anyway.

Visit us for a free sample today.

The party hadn’t even started yet. How does one prepare for eight increasingly demanding voices asking for help with everything all at once? Or even attempt to get 16 eager hands to put more icing and candy onto the houses rather than into eight willing mouths? How does one make sure icing doesn’t end up smeared into every nook and cranny? One doesn’t. Two pieces of advice: never make eight gingerbread houses on your very first attempt and never host a party for three-year-olds all by yourself. My daughter is now 20, and she and her younger sister still insist on decorating gingerbread houses every single year (along with a slew of friends). Now, making the houses is easy. So easy that the urge to tackle something much more elaborate often overtakes me, but my daughters will have no part of that. Everything has to be exactly the same.

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Jan Hostyn is quite possibly embarking upon her nineteenth gingerbread-house-making marathon right at this very moment.

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The Tomato | November December 2013 29

Checklist • Napkins: Preferably not Halloween-themed. • Candles: Lots, votives, pillar, white. • Glasses: For any party over 12 people, rent them. At the end of the night, into the racks they go dirty, and into the garage or car to be taken back the next day. Best $25 ever spent. Get the breakage insurance — it’s like $2. Even minions don’t want to be washing glasses all night.

911

• Forks: Rent these too, if you don’t have more than 12 or so. If you plan to entertain a lot, or serve multiple courses at sitdown dinner parties, pick up a few dozen cocktail/salad forks at a restaurant supply house or Superstore. See above re. washing up.

Entertaining or, what I now know about having a party

•

Mary Bailey

A couple of Christmasses ago, I attempted to

Oh, it turned out all right. People had fun and that

make a pasta dinner for about 35 people, in a

is really the only thing that counts.

small house with an even smaller kitchen. Pasta (or anything that takes up every burner on the stove, and that you want to serve hot) is not a good choice for a large dinner party at home, even when friends step in to pull you out of the weeds. I knew better, but I was carried away by the deliciousness of Daniel Costa’s entertaining

But.

What I know now: Always have minions — hired staff, husbands, your children or someone else’s children, or a few friends you have asked in advance for help.

menu that year and wanted to share it.

I don’t mean to scare you off entertaining.

I say this in the spirit of confession and to warn

Have a better plan, that’s all. Here’s a plan that

you against such a thing, unless of course you are

works, complete with recipes for tasty make-

outfitted with a commercial kitchen and several

ahead appetizers; a list of essentials; and a check-

staff. Even then I say don’t do it.

list for all the things that get missed.

30 November December 2013 | The Tomato

• The great outdoors: Winter parties come with an extra refrigerator, the outside. Clear your refrigerator of all regular stuff and put outside in bins on the balcony or deck, or into the garage so your shelves are free for trays of party items. • Chill: Wine, water. Keep ice outside as well. • Ice: I always forget the ice; either freeze several trays ahead of time or buy bagged ice. • Empty dishwasher and garbage: Start the party with an empty dishwasher and an empty garbage pail. This will make you very happy later, when things get a bit crazy. • Tidy and clear surfaces of tables so there is room for plates and glasses. If you have precious furniture, place trays or pieces of glass or mirror on top. • Extra chairs and small tables.

not somebody’s top ten. Later though, maybe dancing, and singing.

Party Essentials • Bowls of truffled popcorn, roasted olives, best quality potato chips, and spicy nuts in strategic places where people gather. • A water station: Tap and bottles of bubbly water with lots of glasses. Party food is salty and of course we want to follow the one drink/one glass of water rule. • If it’s a good party, no-one leaves. Be prepared with a Moroccan tagine, a chicken potpie, a baked pasta dish, or something like the Silver Palate’s retro Chicken Marbella that you can pull out of the freezer and put in the oven when it’s 8 o’clock and people are still arriving for your 6-8pm drinks party. You can feed everybody something a bit more substantial and make it seem like it was all part of the plan. • Serve a mix of hot and cold, passed and stationary hors d’oeuvres. Vary colour, style, and texture. Don’t have all your hors d'oeuvres on bread, for example, have some in a creamy base, some not. I like to make things obvious — if there are nuts inside, there’s a nut on top, that sort of thing. • Food safety is key: Appetizers made with mayonnaise should go from the fridge to a passing platter, rather than sitting on a table for hours. Cheese and charcuterie, smoked meats and oil-based items have a much longer window. Supplement with store-bought sushi, bocconcini skewers, and bacon-wrapped dates.

• Extra TP and guest towels. • Slippers or socks for guests and a place for shoes and boots at the door. • Set up the tunes before the party to play for at least three hours — you don’t want someone nerding out at the iPod dock. It’s supposed to be background music creating atmosphere,

truffled popcorn 1-3 T

white truffle oil*

1 T

canola oil

1 T

unsalted butter

2 T

fine-grained sea salt

1 c

popping corn

Place the truffle oil in a large bowl (large enough to hold all the popcorn) and keep warm, but not hot. Place canola oil, butter and salt in the bottom of a stove-top popcorn maker. Pour in some of the corn, stir to coat, until it spits a bit. Pour in the rest of the corn and cover with the lid. As soon as you hear the first pops start turning the crank. Continue to turn until the corn stops popping and it becomes difficult to move the handle. Take off the heat and empty into the bowl containing the truffle oil. Toss well and check for seasoning. Serve immediately. * Don’t try to cook the popcorn in the truffle oil. Truffle oil is not really oil of the truffle. It’s an aromatized oil, not heat stable, and is quite unattractive if allowed to get too hot.

bocconcini tomato skewers grape tomatoes bocconcini* basil leaves short or decorative skewers Alternate a tomato, cheese and basil leaf on a skewer. Serve as is or with this dip:

roasted garlic dip 1 head

garlic

green onion, chopped fine

1-2 sprigs parsley, chopped fine (optional) ¼ c

plain yogurt (or sour cream)

¼ c

mayonnaise

squeeze lemon juice

salt and fresh-cracked black pepper To roast garlic: Place a cleaned and trimmed (top cut off) head in foil and bake for about 1 hour at 325°F until soft and golden. Squeeze into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Use more yogurt and mayo for a runnier dip if desired. Mix all ingredients and check for seasoning. * b occoncini are the small-sized balls — perfect for one bite — of young mozzarella. Find at the Italian Centre.

Continued next page

The Tomato | November December 2013 31

artichoke olive dip 1 sml jar artichokes ½ c

black olives, pitted

¼ c

Grana Padano

squeeze lemon juice

¼ -1/3 c

mayonnaise (or to taste)

black pepper

Drain artichokes (not down the sink as they are quite oily) and pulse in a food processor — keep a bit chunky. Pulse the olives — also keep a bit chunky. Add lemon juice, mix with mayonnaise and fold in cheese. Check for seasoning. Place into Siljan cups, grate a bit more cheese over and slip under the broiler. The dip can also be served in a bowl with crackers, or on crostini as well. Pass while hot and bubbly and enjoy with something cold and bubbly.

white rabbit’s cucumber frames Adapted from the charming Alice Eats, A Wonderland Cookbook by Pierre Lamielle and Julie Van Rosendaal. We have chosen one of the three fillings in the original recipes; hummus and spinach artichoke are the other two. This is an elegant and low-cal way to hold dip. Makes about 2 dozen cucumber frames 2

long English cucumbers

to make frames Cut stripes along the sides of the cucumber by peeling off strips of skin using a vegetable peeler. Cut into ¾ to 1-inch (2-2.5 cm) slices and, using a small spoon, scoop out enough of the innards to form a small cup, leaving enough in the bottom to prevent drips.

creamy crab or shrimp filling 1 can (4 oz/120 g) crabmeat or cocktail shrimp 1 pkg (8 oz/250 g) cream cheese, room temperature ¼ c

mayonnaise

green onion, finely chopped

1 T chili sauce (or 1 t prepared horseradish) 2 t

lemon juice

32 November December 2013 | The Tomato

salt and ground black pepper to taste 2 t

chopped fresh dill or parsley

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well blended, as rough or smooth as you like. Fill each cucumber with a spoonful of filling, and garnish with chopped fresh parsley or dill. Serve immediately. (Make extra in case a rabbit decides to crash your party.)

cucumber rafts Instead of frames, make rafts: slice long English cucumber on a slight diagonal to make two bite slices. Top with smoked salmon and a sprig of dill. The colours and flavours are refreshing.

endive boats Endive leaves look like little boats. Their bitter flavour is offset with rich, smoky, or slightly sweet flavours. Place about a spoonful of any of the suggested toppings, taking care not to over-fill, nor make too top-heavy. Smoked Fish: Place a piece of smoked trout, whitefish or mackerel on an endive leaf, and top with parsley and a drizzle of Sriracha sauce for heat. Beet with Orange: The brilliant beet is pretty against the pale green of the leaf. Steam a small beet, cool, skin and slice into matchsticks. Toss in rice vinegar, olive oil, and a squeeze of orange juice, and arrange on the leaf. Grate orange zest over. Fennel Slaw: The cooling liquorice flavour of the fennel is an interesting contrast to the bitter endive. Thinly slice a small fennel bulb and toss with about 1 t of olive oil, chopped parsley, a squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper. Arrange on an endive boat; add smoked salmon or roe if you like.

crostini Endless possibilities created by a little piece of toast. As always, when things are simple, use the best-quality bread and other ingredients to create great flavours. The toppings can be prepared the day before or morning of, and the crostini dressed about an hour before you plan to serve. Save the drizzling until right before serving.

Crostini should be bite-sized or close to it. I like to use the small Bonjour Bakery rustic loaves, but baguettes, ciabattas or smaller diameter crusty loaves will all work.

squeeze fresh lemon juice

1 clove

garlic, mashed

basic crostini

sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper

1 loaf sliced slightly thicker than a pencil 2 T

extra-virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper thyme or rosemary, finely chopped (optional)

¼ t ground cumin (or ¼ t fresh cumin seed, toasted slightly, then ground in a mortar and pestle)

½ sm. hdfl fresh parsley, leaves only, chopped fine Mash white beans with lemon juice until somewhat puréed, leaving some partially whole. Add garlic, cumin and parsley and mix well. Season to taste.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

tomato mixture

Mix all ingredients but the bread in large mixing bowl. Brush the top of each slice with the oil mixture. Or drizzle, it doesn’t have to cover every inch. Place on a baking sheet in one layer and bake until golden, about 7 minutes. A few darker spots, even burnt bits, are OK. The crostini should have a bit of give to them — bake too long and they will be brittle and hard to eat.

1 T (or so) extra virgin olive oil

If making ahead, cool before bagging or putting in a tin. Crostini keep for about a week but are at their best within a few days of baking. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

try these toppings • Spoon some goat cheese mixed with minced fresh herbs on to crostini. Top with thin-sliced roasted red pepper. Drizzle with a fruity extravirgin olive oil. • Top crostini with a slice of Parma ham. Drizzle with balsamic glaze. • Beef filet with Gorgonzola cream: thin-sliced rare beef topped with a drizzle of Gorgonzola that has been mixed with a bit of mayo. • A slice of fresh pear with semi-soft cheese such as Camembert, or Roquefort.

herbed tomato with white bean crostini It’s always handy to have vegetarian and vegan options on your menu.

bean mixture 1 can white (cannellini) beans, rinsed and drained

1 t lemon juice or champagne vinegar 2-4 roma tomatoes (or equivalent campari or grape tomatoes), diced 1 hdfl basil leaves, chopped fine 1-2 sprigs thyme, leaves only, chopped fine sea salt and fresh cracked pepper Drain tomatoes if necessary to remove excess water. Place oil and lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl and whisk until emulsified, adjusting quantities if necessary. Add tomatoes and herbs to the dressing and toss to coat. Season. To serve: Place a dollop of white bean purée on each toast. Top with a small spoonful of tomato mixture. Makes about 16 crostini.

chinese barbecued duck crostini 20-25 crostini 1

barbecue duck

1 c

(or so) hoisin sauce

2-3 green onions, sliced very thin and chopped into pieces no longer than each crostini 40-50

enoki mushrooms

Drizzle each crostini with hoisin sauce. Arrange duck meat and a bit of crunchy skin on each. Place a few onion strips over and top with two enoki mushroom. Makes 20-25 crostini.

Cheese Board Basics One of the simplest ways to entertain is to put out a selection of beautiful cheeses with some fruit, nuts and sweet/savoury condiments, maybe some charcuterie, pâté and breads and crackers. Display on a rustic plank or a polished walnut long board from Edmonton-based On Our Table with lots of small plates and cocktail forks. Buy the best cheeses you can afford. Leftovers can become the best mac’n cheese ever, a sandwich, grated over salads or pasta, or added to a soup.

MASTERPIECES RUN IN THE

FAMILY

If a cheese plate is to be part of a larger spread keep it simple: no more than three cheeses, all quite different in style. For example: one grana cheese such as Manchego or Parmiginao Reggiano; one young runny cheese such as The Cheesiry’s Bianca; and a blue. Tania Hrebeck from Everything Cheese suggests putting each cheese on its own platter, with suitable accompaniments. Or, serve one large chunk of Sylvan’s Grizzly Gouda or an aged Ontario or Quebec cheddar.

Four fabulous places to purchase cheese for cheese boards, gifts, and gift baskets The Italian Centre Shop 10878 95 Street, 780-424-4869 5028 104A Street, 780-989-4869 17010 90 Avenue, 780-454-4869 italiancentre.ca Especially for Italian cheese, they have been at it a long time and they sell a lot of cheese. This is your spot for 24-monthold Parmigiano-Reggiano (their standard); Montasio of various ages; Piave Vecchio, provolone for sammies; also some interesting US cheeses, and a reliable source for Sylvan Star of all flavours. West end store manager Gino Marghella says, “Right now, I’m a big fan of Drunken Goat cheese from Spain. They soak the cheese in wine while it is aging. Put a thin slice on a nice fresh pear. It’s to die for.” Paddy’s Cheese Shop 12509 102 Avenue, on the High Street, 780-413-0367 Paddy’s has always stocked and promoted smaller production Canadian cheeses from BC, Ontario, and Quebec. Now, owner Fern Janzen is helping fledging Alberta cheesemakers such as Old West Ranch with their water buffalo mozz. She stocks all the

Cheesiry’s pecorinos in season, David Wood’s stellar Vancouver Island goat cheese, and a varied selection of British and European cheeses. “A Christmas cheese board should be over the top,” says owner Fern Janzen. “For your soft cheese, a triple cream with extra cream added, such as the Pierre Robert from France; then you should go with a semi-soft artisan goat cheese such as the English Ticklemore; and for local flavour, a fresh (under six months) or medium (six-nine months) Kitskoty pecorino.” The Cavern #2 10169 104 Street, 780-455-1336, thecavern.ca This charming Parisian-style below ground-level café/wine bar/cheese monger is serious about cheese, and wine, and enjoyment. Cheeses in the display are in impeccable condition at perfect ripeness. This is where to find stinky Époisses de Bourgogne or lemony Mahon from the Baleriac islands. We don’t even choose anymore — we say ‘you pick,’ and it’s always perfect. Owner Tricia Bell says, “It’s so hard to choose one, but

an old world triple cream Brie such as Prestige de Bourgogne is perfect for a holiday cheese board. Or something unusual like Don Heliodoro, a raw sheep’s milk cheese from Jumilla, Spain. It’s wrapped in rosemary, bathed in olive oil and aged for 15 months — nutty and spicy.” Everything Cheese 14912 45 Avenue, 780-757-8532 everythingcheese.ca Barely three years old, with a superbly chosen rotating selection of fine Canadian and European cheeses. Everyone here is passionately well-versed about the cheese selection, and their suggestions always spot on. They offer a cheese of the month club, Bonjour Bakery baguettes on Saturdays, plus grilled cheese sandwiches on Friday/Saturday. Co-owner Tania Hrebeck suggests something different for the holidays; “the aged goat cheese Puligny St Pierre from France, or a fabulous Quebec blue such as Bleu Benedictine from Abbey St. Benoit, or Bleu d’Elizabeth from Warwick, with condiments and candied nuts.”

Excellent Condiments for Cheese Zinter Brown Taste Taste Garlic and Onion Jamboree

Quince Jelly

Fruits of Sherbrooke Lemon Pepper Condiment

Chestnut or Buckwheat Honey Kitchen by Brad Fig Jam Hertier Onion and Raspberry Confit

Fruits of Sherbrooke 3Cs in Balsamic

Newget Salted Karamel. Not really a condiment, but delish with cheese nevertheless.

1 SELLING PORT IN ALBERTA

REPRESENTED BY PACIFIC WINE & SPIRITS INC.

The Tomato | November December 2013 33

kitchen sink

| what’s new and notable

restaurant ramblings The Unheard Of (9602 82 Avenue, 780-433-0480, unheardof.com) celebrates 33 years in business (which IS actually quite unheardof) by offering a 33 per cent discount on food throughout November. Small print: Available Tuesday to Friday, four people per table max. That’s a very good reason to go out mid-week. Enjoy top-quality cheeses from Everything Cheese at the Continental Treat (10560 82 Avenue, 780-433-7432, ctfinebistro. com) wine dinner November 13, featuring Church and State wines. Four courses with paired wines, cheese reception and Newget, November 13, $100 inclusive. Call 780-433-7432 for reservations. Yes! Mike Scorgie and Andrew Borley’s Woodwork in the McLeod Building, and North 53 (10240 124 Street) will be opening mid-Novemberish. In the meantime, their twitter feeds are fun, @north_53 and @ woodworkyeg. Meet Masi ambassador J Wheelock at Nello’s Restaurant (#4A, 512 St. Albert Trail, 780-460-8505) Monday, November 18, or on Tuesday, November 19 at Nello's South (2920 Calgary Trail South, 780-9886699). Both dinners start at 6pm, $125 inclusive. Call the restaurant to book. The Truffle chef, Carlo Zarri, of Piedmont’s Villa San Carlo, brings the tastes of his region — the home of the white truffle and the hazelnut — to Bistecca Italian Steakhouse (2345-111 Street, 780 4397335). Paired with the best of Tuscan wine from Antinori Wine Estates, Sorrentino’s Annual Truffle Dinner, Tuesday, November 26, $150, tax and tip not included.

Celebrate New Year’s Eve at The Cavern (#2, 10169 104 Street, 780-455-1336, thecavern.ca) with a delicious cheesehappy set menu; three seatings, starting at 5:30pm. Call to book.

34 November December 2013 | The Tomato

A bright shining moment is over. The Birch Patio at the Devonian Gardens has closed. Nate Box (Elm Café) has decided not to carry on at that location. We’re sad, it was charming and the food was good.

wine tastings happenings and events There may be a few tickets left for Coop’s World of Whiskey and Cognac Gala — a spectacular tasting featuring a dazzling array of whiskey and cognac at the Northlands Expo Centre, Saturday November 2. Tickets ($100+GST/person) include a delicious buffet dinner and a Glencairn Scotch glass to take home. The VIP ticket ($150+GST/person) includes early admission and a guided tasting of exclusive products with spirits experts. This should be somebody’s Christmas party — a private cooking class with the Truffle chef Carlo Zarri, with white truffles, hazelnuts and Tuscan wines. $150/person. Sorrentino’s Truffle Class, Wednesday, November 27, call 780-474-6466 to book. Limited room. Fine Wines by Liquor Select’s (8924 149 Street, 780-481-6868, liquorselect.com) annual Christmas Open House is on Wednesday, December 4, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Taste over 50 wines, beers and spirits. Northlands celebrates Farmfair International’s 40 anniversary. Although it is primarily a top-quality stock show and sale, Farmfair is also an entertaining window into rural life. Not in the market for a prize bull? See beautiful horses, watch stock dogs during penning trials; or visit the Home Grown Alberta Market at the Edmonton EXPO Centre, November 4 and 5. Visit farmfairinternational.com for full schedules and information.

Don’t miss Light up the Night Festival on 124 Street. The new event takes the lively outdoor Christmas markets of Germany as its inspiration with fire barrels, an outdoor market, life-sized board games, fashion shows and of course great food, Saturday, November 23. Details allisbright124.ca. Upcoming tastings at Unwined (512 St Albert Trail, 780-458-4777, unwined.biz): November 5, Scotch Tasting; November 26, Accidental Sommelier Series: Holiday Sparkle; and on December 10, The Whiskies of Islay. Seasoned Solutions has two culinary tours on deck for 2014: Vietnam, March 1-14, $4,995 US/person, double occupancy; and Piedmont and Burgundy, October 11-22, $5,495 US/person, double occupancy, with an optional extension to attend Salone del Gusto in Torino. For more details including itinerary, visit seasonedsolutions.ca. Don’t miss Tea and Briefs, Teapots and Ties at Cally’s Teas (10151 82 Avenue, 780-757-8944) Saturday, November 23. Cally’s and the Briefing Room next door are having a lighthearted party complete with a fashion show (men modeling briefs, and ties) blueberry tea, wine and cheese, Christmas shopping. Enjoy an Old-fashioned Christmas Party at Cally’s, December 4, 7pm-10pm with terrific door prizes and sales. Call 780-7578944 to reserve either night. Want to know your Grenache from your Gris? Your Volnay from your Vouvray? And why it matters? Enjoy full immersion in glorious vins de France during French Wine School — 10 weeks starting Monday January 13. Visit winecollege.ca. for information and registration.

product news Call the Kettle Black is making a popup store at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge during Christmas in November (November 1-10). Discover beautiful kitchen cookware and goodies, including the new Jme by Jamie Oliver gourmet Christmas products. Farm direct producers and small-scale processors are encouraged to attend the Building a Culture of Food Safety Workshop, Agri-Food Business Centre

in Leduc, November 6. Contact Krista Miller at Alberta Farm Fresh to register, 1-800-661-2642. Kitchen by Brad (#101, 10130 105 Street, 780-757-7704, kitchenbybrad.ca) will be featuring their amazing Bacon Jam, indispensable Spice Rub, and luscious Pear & Rosemary and Fig jams at Make It, November 2124 at the Enjoy Centre. And don’t miss the Holiday Open House on December 20, 21 featuring festive pantry items and gifts to make all your entertaining easy! Newget Kompany is also at several locations this November/ December: St. Albert Country Craft Fair, November 16-17; Make It, November 21-24; and the Edmonton Craft Show at Northlands, November 28-December 1. Order online at newget.ca. Newget delivers within Edmonton area and ships across Canada. Our favourite: Salted Karamel and the seasonal Perfect Pear and 3 Pepper Zinger flavours will be making a holiday appearance. Order yours today.

Say hello to Funky Chunky, small batch, ultra-decadent popcorn and pretzels in two flavours: Chip-zelpop, and Peanut Butter pretzels. (Various package sizes, ranging in price from $6-$23.)

Massimago Amarone A wonderfully balanced Amarone with notes of black pepper, sweet tobacco and ripe red berries. Camilla Rossi’s masterpiece.

Edmonton born Angie Quaale wants us to taste more good things by using The Missing Ingredient, an online subscription service that delivers a box cradling four or five cool food products to your door. “I am really excited by all the small food artisans we have in Canada,” says Angie, who owns the WellSeasoned Gourmet Food shop in Langley, BC. The service is available for one, three, six or 12 month periods, missingingredient.ca.

Tenuta Montecchiesi Preziosaterra This rich wine with its soft tannins comes from vineyards located just outside of Cortona. A Super Tuscan blend at an incredible price.

La Tordera Prosecco Superiore “Serrai” This elegant Prosecco comes from a hillside vineyard close to Valdobbiadene. A versatile and refreshing partner to a wide range of dishes.

Find Friends of Sherbrooke’s delicious jams, jellies and condiments at Farm Fair, November 3-10 and Make It at the Enjoy Center, November 21-24, the Edmonton Craft

www.enotri.com

Ask for the Enotri Collection in better wine stores or visit www.enotri.com for a complete list of retailers.

Please see ”Kitchen Sink’ next page www.enotri.com

Help Zocalo (10826 95 Street, 780-428-0754) celebrate birthday Number 10 on November 7, or wait for the weekend when they will have all sorts of celebratory things going on, especially Saturday, November 9. Don’t miss it! The Pan Tree (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, 780-4644631, thepantree.ca) now stocks the Japanese Tojiro Flash knives featuring high carbon VG10 steel blades and Micarta (super-premium laminate) die-cast handles. With their sleek look and lightning sharp edge, Tojiro says they are like a flash in a dark sky. Beautiful! Also at the The Pan Tree: We love the Wine Glass Writers, completely washable, yet nonsmeary pens, handy at a party for finding your wine glass, and for clever hostess gifts and stocking stuffers. Non-toxic, $12.50/set of three in metallic or multicolour.

“We’ll need more than that if we plan to leave a tip.”

Panning for gold, ca. 1914. City of Edmonton Archives EB-23-59

Tuscany vs. Napa Winemakers’ Dinner at the Edmonton Country Club with Napa’s St. Supéry and Rubissow, along with Tuscany’s Michele Satta and Tolaini, Friday, November 8. Enjoy six courses, 12 wines, $125, plus tax and tip. Email scott. hippe@edmontoncountryclub.com for tix.

Scotch legend Mike Nicholson joins Nick Lees on November 8 for a dinner pairing stellar whiskies; Glenkinchie 12 year old, Oban Distiller’s Edition, Coal Ila 12 year old, and Talisker Ten, at Sorrentino’s Downtown (10162 100 Street, 780-4247500, $95, tax and tip not included, call for reservations). Mike Nicholson will be signing collector bottles and there will be special limited edition bottling auctioned for Prostate Cancer Research.

Discover Enotri hand-crafted wines sourced directly from the growers.

Edmonton’s oldest, newest downtown restaurant now open. 9802 jasper avenue 780.424-0152 email@tavern1903.com www.tavern1903.com also visit our original downtown restaurant: hardware grill.

The Tomato | November December 2013 35

GM Ad-Final.pdf

2013-10-17

9:21 AM

kitchen sink continued from page 35

Show at Northlands, November 28-December 1, as well as the Sherwood Park Winter Market, City Hall Market and the French Quarter Sunday market.

Eat & drink... together.

CMY

780.760.2228

5842 - 111 Street

A VA L E N T I N E S E V E N T F O R T H E K I D S K OT TAG E F O U N DAT I O N

IC BY

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TICKETS

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$100

Enjoy hundreds of wines, silent auction, live jazz, elegant food pairings and a chocolate buffet.

Friday, February 14, 2014 at 7pm – 10pm at the Delta Edmonton South Hotel and Conference Centre

For tickets www.kidskottage.org or call 780-448-1752

cheese • wine+beer • espresso

Fine Wines, Spirits, Ales and Accessories

A unique selection of over 800 wines, monthly wine tastings, and quality customer service. 3845 - 99 Street 780.461.0191 www.kegncork.com

36 November December 2013 | The Tomato

The Sorrentino’s Holiday Bird could change your Christmas — a roasted turkey redolent of fresh herbs, with a golden butter-basted skin, along with a pancetta/ cranberry stuffing, gravy, of course, and brandied cranberry sauce. You can purchase pans of sides, dessert (tiramisu) and new this year, chef Cathy Marcil's family tourtière. No muss, no fuss. Now, that’s a tradition we’d all love to start. Stuffed turkey package feeds 10-12 people, $195+ GST. Visit sorrentinos.com/catering to order. Hillaby’s (Enjoy Centre, 101 Riel Drive, St Albert, 780-651-7373 toolsforcooks.ca) has opened a pop-up store for the holidays in the Shoppes of Terwillegar (14251 23 Avenue) next door to the Prairie Mill Bread Company. In spring

a new Hillaby’s will open there; a fully decked-out shop filled with fabulous culinary and table-top accoutrements.

cooking classes and demonstrations Holiday Season Cooking Classes with Seasoned Solutions are on Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, December 1, $175 plus GST. Visit seasonedsolutions.ca. Upcoming classes at The Pan Tree (#550, 220 Lakeland Drive, Sherwood Park, 780-464-4631, thepantree.ca): November 7, Knife Skills with chef Richard Toll; November 9, R & R Experience: Roasting Roots with Deborah Anzinger; November 14, Italian Wine Pairing with chef Richard Toll; November 28, Healthy Holiday Entertaining with chef Bianca Osbourne. Send new and/or interesting food and drink related news for The Kitchen Sink to thetomato.ca.

according to judy

| judy schultz

Fashion-forward foodies foretell future food As the year begins to wind down, we who are obsessed with food start rolling the dice. Will 2014 find us still drinking coconut water and eating kale by the bale? Will we continue to spurn curly parsley but love flat leaf, even though both of them taste like grass? It’s all about what’s in and what’s out.

780.458.4777 • info@unwined.biz www.unwined.biz • 2, 512 St. Albert Trail

pop-up shop in yeg We’re trying to open again this year, but don’t have a location yet... or maybe we do now. Check our website for details www.knifewear.com

handmade Japanese kitchen knives Calgary | Ottawa | Kelowna | Edmonton?

www.knifewear.com

38 November December 2013 | The Tomato

Food in Tubes. It’s in. Once the sole property of science fiction and space missions, food-in-tubes is the handiest invention since sliced bread. Not just wasabi and anchovy paste, useful as they are, but you gotta love those refrigerated tubes of organic herbs from Australia. A smooth, aromatic purée of organic lemon grass in a tube? Genius. Food in Trucks. It’s so in. Love those pop-up restaurants peddling their delicious road food. In Edmonton we’ve gone from a handful two years ago to dozens this past summer. Long may they roll. Sumptuous Fats. Totally in. Bacon is beloved, including bacon jam and bacon ice cream. Lard is back, improving pastries everywhere. Love the butter, hail to the cheese. Watch for spreadable lard from Italy. Lettuce. In. This past summer there were more than 100 varieties (as distinct from types, of which there are still seven if you include Chinese types) but those lettuce varieties just keep coming. In New Zealand, my January lettuce crop includes a red-leaf variety called Drunken Woman. Why? I’m told it’s “Because the leaves are floppy and they blush.” Oh, well. Kale. Completely in. About three years ago, some clever chef discovered that the rubbery leaves gracing his buffet table were edible. Now we can’t get enough kale. Not one, but six different varieties are making the rounds this year (Russian, Italian, curly, etc.). Love it fried with bacon, folded into hot mashed potatoes. Blob of butter, splash of cream, YUM! Grains and seeds. They’re so in, you’d think we were all squirrels.

At the moment, spelt and farro trump quinoa. Nobody knows why. The trick is to buy them pearled, as opposed to hulled. Cooking pearled grains and seeds is child’s play; it’s on the table in minutes. But! The same grain/seed, merely hulled, can turn into the Boston Marathon of cookery requiring an eight-hour soak before it goes into the pot to boil. Heidi Julavits, writing in the New York Times, didn’t know that when she decided to cook unpearled spelt. “We cooked our spelt for four hours… threw in multiple sticks of butter, gallons of stock and $13 worth of grated Parmesan, but the spelt remained flavour-impervious,” said Heidi. She knows better now. Garlic Press. Out with the garlic press. Anthony Bourdain hates this handy tool, and forbids its use in his kitchen. Me? I love my garlic press, but then I’ve never been a fashion-forward woman. Offal. Out. Apologies to those bold chefs now doing the nose-to-tail thing, but for me, offal is awful, (forgive the pun). It’s a textural thing, or maybe the way it smells when it’s cooking, but I cannot deal with kidney, tongue, heart, either variety of tripe, or any of the other bits and bobs. And I am not alone. Applause for chefs who serve every scrap of the animal, including beef bone marrow. But I still think offal is… well, you know.

HEY EDMONTON, GET YOUR CREATIVE SPIRITS FLOWING AND MIX UP SOME WINTERY GOODNESS!

Send us your hot or cold beverage recipes — with or without alcohol* — that complement our winter social events and outdoor activities. Bonus points for drink creations made from Alberta grain-based spirits and for including local stuff grown around here: stuff like honey, crabapples, rhubarb, carrots, beets, or saskatoon berries. twitter.com/wintercityyeg

COMPETITION BEGINS NOVEMBER 14 FOR COMPLETE DETAILS VISIT

facebook.com/WinterCityEdmonton

One exception: livers of goose or duck can be absolutely scrumptious. Sauté them in butter, chop them with garlic and parsley, add a good bash of cream, more butter, big slug of cognac. Whiz the mixture in a blender until it’s smooth, and spread liberally on toasted baguette. Absolutely yum! Plus, you can’t taste the liver, and that’s a good thing. Judy Schultz is a food and travel writer who’d walk over hot coals to avoid eating tripe.

*Alcoholic drink category open to those over 18 only. Persons under 18 are encouraged to enter the non-alcoholic category. Your creation must be an original recipe.

facebook.com/LeCreusetCanada

LASTING MEMORIES

CREATE A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES WITH LE CREUSET THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Barb’s Kitchen Centre 9766 – 51 Avenue NW 780-437-3134

Bella Casa 9646 – 142 Street 780-437-4190

Hillaby’s Tools for Cooks The Enjoy Centre 101 Riel Drive, St-Albert 780-651-7373

Cookware | Bakeware | Dinnerware | Accessories

The Pan Tree 550 – 220 Lakeland Drive 780-464-4631

Zenari’s 10180 – 101 Street NW 780-423-5409