Be the host(ess) with the most(est)

Researching and hosting a one-hour special called “Entertaining Disaster” (aired at 4 pm December 28, 2009, on CBC Radio One), gave me food for thought.
The myriad of tales about doing things wrong when it comes to the dinner party thing – probably my favourite way of sharing good times with family and friends – made me think about how to do it right.
Here are my top dinner party tips gained from years of experience. Many of these – like most lessons in life – were learned the hard way. The menu that follows is also the result of much trial and error.
• The ideal number of guests (including two hosts) is definitely six – a number that is intimate without being potentially boring. Eight is workable but you risk the conversation breaking up into small groups.
• I like to invite people who don’t know each other. It’s a bit of a crap-shoot but mostly works out splendidly as there is more likelihood of new topics to be discussed and discoveries to be made than if guests are already friends. Even a clash of personalities or opinions can work out well.
• There are three types of munchies that I always serve before dinner with drinks. These are not filling and whet the appetite for dinner. Best of all, they require no work. They are: Unsalted roasted dry almonds (I buy them in a bulk food store where they are always fresh); Miss Vickie’s Original chips, and stuffed jumbo green olives (pits are a no-no at a dinner party).
• I am a strong believer in the buffet-style of serving. Plating food for each person does not leave guests free to choose what they like and in what amount. This applies to everything except soup.
• It is crucial that most of the meal be cooked ahead, preferably the day before so that you, the charming host, are available to be just that instead of slaving over a hot stove away from your guests. Soup is a good starter even if it involves extra dishes and should be garnished at the last minute. Best entrees are braised meat dishes that actually improve if made ahead. Mashed or baby boiled potatoes and mixed roast veggies also keep well once cooked. Forget flambeeing, serving steak, risotto or other dishes involving other a la minute techniques, for obvious reasons.
• I like to serve a couple of desserts – one should probably include chocolate. Making one dessert and buying another is a good idea. Ice cream and some kind of fruit sauce are both good garnishes. Again, we’re talking self-serve.
• Music is crucial to a soothing mood. It should be gentle and not intrusive but not of the Muzak genre. Bryan Ferry’s CD As Time Goes By is my all-time favourite. Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and some world music are also good.
• Dimmers and candle-light also create a cozy ambience – the key factor, in my books, for a soothing evening full of warmth, good conversation and a feeling of well-being.
Here is a menu that includes three of my top dishes to serve at a soiree chez moi. They are fall/winter foods. Watch this space as warm weather arrives in 2010 for a menu designed for spring/summer.
Bon Appetit!

The Saucier’s Apprentice

Eating at The Chefs House – the year-old training restaurant for George Brown College’s budding chefs, sommeliers and hospitality students – is my idea of being a guinea pig at its absolute best.
I recently had lunch at this beautiful, spacious restaurant located at 215 King St. E. in downtown Toronto, steps away from the college’s main campus, with one of may favourite people: chief chef/instructor at the college, John Higgins.
As he spoke Glaswegian and nibbled on Cranberry Quinoa Salad followed by Madras Lamb Curry, I relished luscious Mushroom Soup and a superb entree of perfectly prepared pappardelle pasta laced with juicy braised duck, crunchy toasted pine nuts and lashings of shaved parmesan.
Meanwhile, we could watch the fresh-faced students working away under the tutelage of their chef mentors in the big open kitchen.
There were quibbles about the service (it was slow) and the too-large size of my companion’s curry – all passed on by chef Higgins to the manager/instructor at this lively learning emporium.
However, the excellent ergonomics of the comfy chairs perfectly matched to the height and size of tables (an annoying problem in most establishments), the uplifting vibe in the room and the students’ palpably positive energy all made the meal experience memorable.
What better way to learn the restaurant business than by working in one – from cooking the food to serving it?
What’s more, the price is right – from $18 for 2 courses to $25 for 4.
No wonder this culinary classroom is always packed. For more info and, with any luck, a reservation, check www.thechefshouse.com.

Hail kale in stupendous Stumpot!

This recipe has truly changed my life. It comes from my friend Jan Van Stralen who grew up on a farm in south-west Ontario in a family of Dutch heritage. The latter explains the name of this trusty dish: Borenkol Stumpot.
It’s basically steamed kale mixed with mashed potatoes – a brilliant idea that combines the strong flavour of that nutty, chewy, nutrient-packed green vegetable (I prefer the milder black kale to the usual and more bitter green version) with the luscious creaminess and mild taste of spuds.
I now serve this at dinner parties with braised meat, steak, stew, roast chicken etc. etc.
Here’s how you make it.
Wash, slice and steam kale (or simmer in a small amount of water) for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, boil, then mash about 6 medium potatoes with hot milk, butter and salt. (Instead of mashing, you can cream spuds with an electric mixer).
Combine kale and potatoes and serve – to rave reviews!

Veggies a la lean mean grilling machine

Grilled Vegetables

Ultimate Roast Turkey — Back by Popular Demand

Here is the roast turkey recipe that changed my life when I made it for Thanksgiving. It is based on a Martha Stewart version that I streamlined, adapted and improved. My gravy is old-fashioned and the best.

The result: magazine cover looks and superbly moist, evenly cooked flesh.

Dear cooks, you’re welcome.

The Ultimate Roast Turkey

A Prize Pudding – Sticky and Sweet

In a column about famous and infamous recipe mistakes that I wrote for the Toronto Star in 2008, I confessed to not being happy with the Sticky Toffee Pudding in my latest book: Dish. Here is the amazing version I came up with after that confession. It is definitely a winner.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Room with a Stew

I have been making this for years – a perfect fall and winter dish – and recently refined it to come up with this version.
I do not dredge meat in flour any more before adding it to a braised dish after reading in Cook’s magazine (Cook’s mag and their cookbooks are bibles to me) that this inhibits browning and caramelization, both of which are key when deglazing the pan for a sumptuous sauce.
Beef Beer Stew
Using beer in stew makes it a “daube” in French cuisine and is a brilliant trick. I like to cut the beef in amorphous, fairly large chunks rather than neat cubes. For beer, Guinness works well. Cooking this in the oven seems to add richness and depth – it also easier to keep the slow simmer constant this way. Use more mushrooms, if desired.
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp vegetable oil
3 onions, cut in thin wedges
4 carrots, cut in chunks
2 1/2 lb (1.25 kg) stewing beef, cut in pieces
Salt and pepper
12-oz (341 mL) bottle amber or dark beer
28-oz (796 mL) can tomatoes, undrained, chopped
1/2 tsp each: dried oregano, dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz (250 g) mushrooms, thickly sliced
Chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
Heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil in large ovenproof saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes or until beginning to colour. Reduce heat to low and cook about 10 minutes more or until tender and golden brown. Transfer to bowl; wipe saucepan.
Sprinkle beef lightly with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in saucepan over high heat. Add beef; cook in batches in single layer until well browned all over. Transfer to bowl with onion mixture.
Preheat oven to 325F (160C).
Add beer to saucepan. Bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits from bottom and sides of saucepan. Boil about 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add onion mixture and beef along with tomatoes, oregano and thyme. Bring just barely to a boil.
Cover and cook in oven or on very low heat on top of stove about 2 hours or until meat is fork-tender. Taste; add salt and pepper.
Heat remaining tablespoon each of butter and oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until browned. Stir into stew. Garnish with parsley.
Makes about 6 servings.

The hottest “chien chaud” in Montreal

There were several high points during a recent visit to Montreal with my boyfriend Ross.
Delivering his red pick-up to valet parking at the Queen Elizabeth hotel kicked things off. I have a hunch they don’t park many such vehicles in the bowels of that trusty landmark currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of John and Yoko’s famous bed-in.
Next came brilliant British guitar genius Jeff Beck’s appearance at the Jazz Festival. The veteran rocker played to a high-testosterone audience of avid fans each of whom had forked out a good wad of money to attend. His encore, the haunting “Jerusalem,” was magnifique.
No visit to the city of my birth is complete without a pilgrimage to smoked meat mecca Schwartz’s on St. Laurent.
Timing is key, as I’ve learned the hard way, and 3 pm on a weekday was perfect for introducing Ross – a Schwartz’s virgin – to a late lunch of a smoked meat sandwich, fries and dill pickle eaten at the best spot in the room: a stool at the counter.
As for a new discovery, we came upon Chien Chaud Victoire (formerly Victory Hot Dogs), located at 1025 Beaver Hall, en route to Old Montreal from our hotel.
This nifty spot has been around for more than 30 years and basically makes two things: hot dogs and fries.They use Lester’s franks and offer the buns steamed or grilled. And they do them well – more proof that sweet and simple win the day.

Meryl Streep finds her inner Child

Okay, so I stole this clever headline from an article I found online about the soon-to-be-released movie “Julie and Julia” starring Meryl Streep as my friend and amazing mentor Julia Child.
Written and directed by the equally amazing Nora Ephron, the film is based on a blog and book by the same name written by a young New Yorker called Julie Powell who cooked her way through Child’s iconic and first of many books “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” – that’s more than 500 recipes in a mere 365 days.
Happily, the Ephron/Streep collaboration has produced a brilliant, funny and food-filled film that captures the personalty and passion of the wondrously charismatic Child.
It is much better than Powell’s book which I found so flat and fake that I only managed to get through the first few chapters.
Also happily, Amy Adams’s portrayal of Powell is as lively and riveting as Streep’s enthusiastic channelling of Child who comes across as the life-affirming, warm, whisk-wielding woman I came to know from 1991 until her death in 2004.
Ephron knows what she’s doing when it comes to things culinary.
Her wonderful novel “Heartburn” is a semi-autobiographical story about a food writer whose husband (based on Ephron’s former hubby Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame) cheats on her while she is pregnant with their child. She is played by – who else? – Meryl Streep in a movie directed by Ephron that came out in the 1980s.
Meryl Streep, who is much shorter than Child’s height of 6 ft 2, wore platform shoes and stood on raised floors to make her look tall in the movie – both ruses that worked perfectly.
More importantly, Streep manages to reproduce Child’s deep, plummy voice perfectly without hamming it up. Likewise for the funny scenes in which she has those inimitable kitchen accidents and flops in the kitchen that have been well documented on her TV shows and, most famously, spoofed by Dan Aykroyd.
The scenes in which Powell (Adams) cooks from Child’s book in her loft’s tiny kitchen – often successfully but sometimes not – are also evocative and cleverly done.
But it is the tender love between Child and her doting husband Paul that is a key theme. It was he who encouraged her to pursue a career in food and helped us all share this darling, indomitable woman’s love of it.
Thank you Nora and Meryl for keeping Child’s legacy alive and well.
As Toronto chef/restaurateur Donna Dooher said when I interviewed her for Child’s obituary that ran in the Toronto Star on August 21, 2004:
“She loved people and knew cooking is the best way of showing your love.”

A Berry Good Sauce

I have a redcurrant bush growing in my garden underneath a trellis bearing a healthy grapevine. I haven’t yet found a use for the grapes other than eating them raw but have made this delicious sauce using those tangy currants for the past two summers.
This is excellent served with any chocolate dessert, drizzled over ice cream or as a sidekick to your favourite tart or cake.
You could easily double or triple this recipe. As usual, you’re welcome!
Redcurrant Sauce
1 lb/500g (about 3 cups) redcurrants
2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup port
1 unpeeled orange, washed, quartered
Place all ingredients in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, partially covered, about 30 minutes or until slightly thickened.
Cool, remove orange quarters, then pass through sieve using wooden spoon. Cool completely. Store in covered container in fridge.
Makes 15 to 20 servings as sauce for dessert.