Eats/Reads

We were jetlagged and in need of some tasty but quick and simple egg nog to celebrate New Year's Eve. This recipe fit the bill! Basically, you drink uncooked French toast mixture. But in a good way. Maybe sometime when we're less exhausted and confused about which continent we're on, we'll try one of those egg nog recipes which has you separate the eggs and beat the yolks and whites separately. Also all the recipes we found said you should chill the egg nog before serving but I always think of egg nog as a warm drink. Plus, the flat was freezing. So we warmed the nog in a pan before drinking, making sure it didn't get too hot (so as not to cook the eggs). Happy New Year! (glug, glug) 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups milk 3 tbsp sugar 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp nutmeg 3 oz bourbon (or rum) Beat eggs with wire whisk. Add milk and sugar. Beat some more. Add vanilla, nutmeg and booze. Beat a bit more. Chill and serve cold, or heat gently in a pan and serve warm-ish.

It's Christmastime and though I haven't had much time to bake, I did find a few minutes after decorating the tree to make a batch of these molasses crinkles. These are the best cookies - chewy, sweet, gingery. I've made them for cookie exchanges, for colleagues, for friends, for Friday night poker games - and they are always a hit. I get asked for the recipe more often than anything else I bake or cook. It's an old family recipe, adapted here by sister Liz (baker and chef extraordinaire). The original called for Crisco (ewww) and less ginger, revealing its Midwestern roots. If you like ginger, you can add some diced-up crystallised ginger (mix it in with the wet ingredients right before you add the flour). But for first-timers I suggest you enjoy them in their 'classic' state. 5 Tbsp butter 1/4 cup canola oil 1/2 c white sugar 1/2 c brown sugar 1 egg 4 Tbsp molasses (I use blackstrap) 2 cups flour 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp nutmeg Ex...

We finally made a sojourn to Chinatown to visit our favourite Chinese market today. We sorely miss the Chinese food in San Francisco, so we've been forced to make it at home. We've found a couple adequate Chinese restaurants here but nothing like in SF. You have to be careful what you order here, or you might end up with doughy, deep-fried meat covered in jam (their version of 'sweet and sour'). Yuck. Or sweetcorn in your mu shu. Double yuck. At the market today, along with some sauces, frozen dumplings (yum) and noodles, we bought fresh pak choy (or bak choi, or however you misspell it). This is a quick sauce we tried out for the greens. It came out OK but was a little too thin and watery, and the pak choi could have been cooked less. This is our amended recipe, which we hope will fix that. We served this with pan fried pot stickers. I heart Chinese food!! 2 Tbsp veg oil 6 or so cloves of garlic 1/3 c chicken broth 1 Tbsp soy sauce 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch 1 1/2 to 2 lbs p...

Finally – something about reads not eats. Just finished ' Reading Like a Writer: A guide for people who love books and for those who want to write them ' by Francine Prose. This is a good read, even if you don’t want to be a writer. As opposed to the usual prescriptive and preachy ‘how to write fiction’ books, it draws heavily on examples of fine writing as a way of illustrating aspects of the craft. Then at the end Prose devotes a chapter to how Chekhov taught her just about every bit of advice she has given writing students is wrong. So think for yourself. The strength of the book is the high quality of the sample texts. I was pleased to read good bits from authors I know and to be introduced to writers I hadn’t heard of and now want to read. The explanatory sections in between the samples were by and large interesting and instructive, though I admit I skimmed several parts that were explaining why a great excerpt was great because, well, I already got why by reading it! Bes...

We had ground beef and cabbage that needed to be eaten. So we thought: Thai meat balls! We had all the sauces but didn't have the fresh mint and basil, which really would have been better and more Thai than parsley in the meatballs. Still this was tasty for a quick meal that used up an odd assortment of ingredients in the fridge. Next time: Get those fresh herbs. Try other veg besides cabbage, which was fine but something else might be better. Not sure what yet. Our Thai friend recommends the following brands for sauces: Squid brand fish sauce, Healthy Boy brand soy sauce and Healthy Boy brand sweet chili sauce (called 'chicken sauce' by Thais, though it's used on a number of dishes). We found them at a local Chinese market. These are the sauces we use, and they are great. When we can't find Healthy Boy soy sauce, we use Pearl River, which is also nice. Also: we always use light soy sauce - dark soy sauce should only be used for colour, not flavour. Meatballs: 62...

This recipe is nothing fancy but it's tasty and flexible, depending on what you have on hand. It is inspired by an Annabel Karmel recipe for kids but altered a bit. It can be fed to toddlers (my daughter loves it) or to adults. It served as the basis for our first 'family meal' - where all three of us ate the same dish. Imagine! If you don't have courgette (zucchini to you Americans) or celery, you can substitute another type of squash, or potato, or just use more carrot and onion. You could add a clove or two of garlic if your toddler is willing. If you don't have tuna, you can use ground beef, or make it veggie, or add some grated cheese before serving for extra protein and fat. You could probably also use flaked salmon or trout, or perhaps even chicken, but I haven't tried those yet. Let me know how it goes if you do! 6 Tbsp olive oil 1 small onion, chopped 1 small or medium carrot, chopped 1 stick celery, chopped 1 small courgette, chopped 2 400g/14 oz tins...

My husband (aka SWC, aka my co-cooker and co-blogger) adores noodles. When asked once which single cuisine he could eat for the rest of his life, he said, "Chinese or Italian." I said: "You just like noodles!" He agreed. This (and probably most of the pasta I'll write about) is his creation. It's based on Marcella Hazan's pasta carbonara recipe (we love her cookbook), plus some veg we had lying around from our weekly box. It turned out quite tasty. It was also great the next day, heated up in a skillet with a bit of extra oil. Yum. 3 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 head of garlic, pressed 1/2 lb back bacon, cut into thin strips 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced 1/4 cup white wine one bunch scallions 4 sundried tomatoes, sliced thin 2 eggs 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped fresh black pepper 1 lb spaghetti Saute garlic in olive oil for a couple minutes. Add bacon. Cook until it's crispy. Add wine. Deglaze pan. Add mushrooms. Saute until t...

We needed a vegetarian version of the quick ass quiche today for a party, so I made the same thing with two changes: 1. I replaced the bacon with 7 whole sundried tomatoes, thinly sliced, placing them on top of the leeks. 2. I added about a tablespoon of white wine to the leeks while sauteing, to add a little extra flavour in the absence of bacon drippings. The rest of the recipe is exactly the same. Result: Tasty! The sundried tomatoes were just the right amount of savoury and rich to replace the bacon.

We had cabbage and potatoes in our veg box, and some pork shoulder chops from the supermarket, so I thought, 'hey, I'll make cabbage, potato and pork stew.' Creative, I know. I trolled the web and found this recipe which sounded pretty good, with the vinegar (I love pickled things) and the mustard. Made it last night and it was a major disappointment: too vinegary (even for me), too bland, not substantial enough. We added some creamy yogurt to see if that helped, and it did a little. It wasn't disgusting - we ate it. But really nothing to recommend it. No idea what we'll do with the dutch oven full of it sitting in the fridge. I would not try that recipe again. Not even sure how I'd change it to improve it.

Tonight is a leftovers night, so I am featuring a brilliant recipe from my friend Patrick. He came up with this recipe for hachis parmentier - a fancy French version of cottage or shepherd's pie - with the hopes of recreating a wonderful version of the dish he, my husband and I have all eaten at a little cafe in the Marais district of Paris called Le Barometre (which we've loved and recommended to all our friends but which Patrick now tells us has changed chefs and gone downhill a bit - so if you try it and it's not so great, well, sorry). My husband and I have made the dish at home a few times and it's been wooonderful. Last time we made it in our huge Le Creuset dutch oven and picked at it all week, so all we had to cook was a vegetable dish - great for when you can't/don't want to cook every night. So over to Patrick: "this is actually perfect timing, since i just made this for the first time in a while 2 nights ago, and i settled on the main balance pr...

This was intended as a dish for my 14-month-old daughter. But alas, she turned her nose up at it. She took one bite then started chanting, "Milk! Cheese! Bread!" (Her favourite foods, along with lentils.) Luckily it's also pretty tasty for adults. Next time, though, if I make it for adults, I will add more onion, some garlic, and maybe some dried or fresh chili, to make it a little more exciting. This can be eaten as is, or meat eaters can add some grilled and flaked/shredded fish or chicken. Or you can have a poached egg on top. Here's the simple version I made for the baby. Anyone with toddlers can try it on their kids, just leave out the salt and pepper (unless your kids like pepper!). Some olive oil Half an onion About 500g frozen spinach (we buy this organic frozen spinach which comes in 80g cubes) 2 carrots, sliced thin 2 Tbsp butter 2 Tbsp flour 1 cup milk Hunk of cheese, grated fine 1 lb pasta Salt and pepper Saute onion in olive oil. Thaw spinach in fridge ah...

The fridge was a bit bare today, so I made a quick fried rice. Tasty and easy, although I usually add a little leftover meat or fish of some kind when we have it. 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, minced 1 medium leek, cut into thin rounds About 2-3 cups leftover cooked white rice 2 eggs 8 cherry tomatoes, halved 1 Tbsp vegetable oil Start by heating the oil in the wok. Add the ginger and cook for about a minute, until the ginger is fragrant. Add the leek and stir fry until wilted. Add the rice, preferably at least one day old and refrigerated to get the right texture, breaking up the rice and stir frying until the rice is no longer clumped together. Beat the eggs in a bowl with a little cold water, then pour the result over the mixture in the wok. Stir constantly until the egg is fully cooked. Add the cherry tomatoes, season to taste with light soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and chili sauce.

We get an organic veg box and around this time of year we always end up with a fridge drawer full of parsnips. So last night we made curried parsnip chips. How: Washed, peeled and chopped them into chip-size sticks. Mixed them with olive oil and a tsp or so of curry powder. Baked at 200C (fan oven) for 30 mins. Made dipping sauce with yogurt, curry powder and lemon. Result: Tasty chips but some burnt. Dipping sauce OK but left something to be desired. Next time: Cut chips into more even sizes, or watch more closely for little ones burning and remove from oven. Do some recipe research for ideas on how to make dipping sauce better (we did this recipe before, following a recipe online, and the results were much better).

This is not the richest, most custard-y quiche you will ever eat. For that, you need cream (not milk), more egg yolk and less egg white, and probably more cheese. But we like this - still creamy and smooth but not so heavy you feel like you've eaten a ton o' bricks. Also we hate to waste egg whites and never have cream in the house (we use whole milk). This features a "cheater's crust", as SWC calls it. It's just bread. You can of course make a real pie crust and that would be yummy too. I'm sure that will happen in our home... one of these days... (Plus: here's the veggie version .) 1 leek, cut into thin rounds 4 rashers back bacon 5 eggs 1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp basil Ground black pepper 4 ounces goats cheese About 3 cups dryish bread, chopped up in quarter-inch cubes (this is for a 9-inch pie plate. If you're using another size dish, make sure the bread covers the bottom and provides a nice thick layer.) Preheat oven to 160C (fan ove...

Books I've read recently (this is to help me remember): Out of Breath, The Story of You and Something Might Happen by Julie Myerson [The first one was for my book group and then I got the others cause I liked her writing. And I needed some easy, addictive reads during my baby's first year. Very readable, not overly challenging, page turners, yet more unusual than that description sounds. My fave was Out of Breath - nice sharp dialogue and great kid characters, especially five-year-old Mouse.] Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond [So disappointing. The first two pages are full of energy and mystery - what happened to the rest of the novel? My book group spent the whole time talking about all the things we hated - cliche dialogue, characters who annoyed us, tedious plot, too many local references etc etc. Can't believe this was a NY Times bestseller. I guess people really do buy novels based on first two pages. Hey - I did!] Divisadero by Michael Ondatje [A great writer but...