March 12, 2008

Cooking Club I - Mexican Fiesta

Our March meeting was hosted by Imogen and focused on Mexican delights. I enjoyed the food immensely but, once again, filled up on the chips, salsa and margs before the mains even showed up!


Imogen - Garden Tomato Salsa (mild & spicy) with Chips
Guacamole
Rosemary - Grilled Fish Tacos
Danielle - Cinnamon Churros with Dulce De Leche for Dipping

March 11, 2008

Battle of the Hors D’oeuvres for Big Brothers/Big Sisters



Windsor, ON - Canadian celebrity chef and cookbook author, Christine Cushing, will lead the critics’ panel at the 22nd Annual Battle of the Hors D’oeuvres on Friday, May 2, 2008. For the past two decades, local chefs have competed for the title of best hors d’oeuvre. This year’s competition will be enhanced by an all-new “Critics’ Choice Award” as well as the fan-favourite “People’s Choice Award”.

“We are incredibly excited to have Christine Cushing, one of Canada’s most distinguished chefs, join us to help determine Windsor & Essex County’s best hors d’oeuvre,” says Mary Vincente, committee chair. “However, celebrities won’t be the only judges; guests will be asked to vote for the People’s Choice award. It will be interesting to see if guests have the same palate as our critics’ panel.”

Besides Christine Cushing, the critics’ panel includes:

· Ted Whipp, food writer and blogger, Windsor Star
· Mike Deibert, editor of Ontario Restaurant News
· Ahron Goldman, president, Culinary Guild of Windsor
· Pina Ciotoli, food blogger, Windsor Eats
· Danielle Piche, food blogger, Maple Syrup and Poutine

· James Treadwell, sommelier and owner, Treadwell Farm-to-Table Cuisine

Guests can mingle with all of the celebrity judges during the wine tasting and food sampling reception that kicks off the evening. After the reception, the food competition begins and guests will be treated to 10 hors d’oeuvre-style courses created by local chefs, a dessert extravaganza, a diamond raffle, a silent auction and the sounds of the Detroit Pistons’ house band, the Sun Messengers.

The 22nd Annual Battle of the Hors D’oeuvres is a food competition fundraiser where all the proceeds benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters Windsor Essex. The 2008 event would not be possible without generous sponsorship from Flood Chiropractic, Sutts, Strosberg, LLP, Unique Tool & Gauge, Valiant Machine, AM800, The A-Channel and The Windsor Star.


Tickets are $100 or $900 for a table of ten. Tickets are available by phone at (519) 945-6232 ext. 13 or ticket order forms may be downloaded from http://www.bigbrothersbigsisterswe.ca/

March 1, 2008

Food in the News


Looking for high salt content in your child's food? Go to A&W - CBC


How to dine when you have OCD - New York Times


Chocolate Conspiracy? - CBC


For all the sandwich lovers out there, the best in America! - Esquire


New food products - in stores now! - Toronto Star


Bakeries struggle and farmers rejoice as the price of flour rises - CBC

Recipe Reviews




Though I rarely crave sweets, there recipes were too good to pass up.


Pineapple Mojito - Miche Mache Blog (picture credit goes to them)


Plain and Simple Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes - The Cupcake Blog


Hot Tamale Macarons - Tartelette Blog


Waste Not, Want Not


I believe that we should all be doing our part to help the environment. This can include many simple things like turning off your car when idling for long periods of time or turning down your thermostat. In the Globe and Mail, Vikram Vij discusses how chefs can also be more conscientious in the kitchen. I think these tips also translate to the home cook. Here is how you can help in your own kitchen:


- don't buy what you won't use; having rotting food in your fridge is a waste


- put scraps (other than meats and fats) into a composter


- use food from sustainable, local farms as much as possible


- try to use each part of the food you buy (e.g. eat the chicken breast but use the bones for stock)


- don't buy overfished seafood and fish (e.g. Chilean SeaBass, Cod, Orange Roughy)


- the less processed the food, the more likely it is to have a smaller carbon footprint


- buy organic, but try to make it as local as possible


I'm sure these suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg. Please comment and add more ideas.


*Here is another article from TerraDaily, as well as one about Michael Pollan in the Toronto Star