DIGEST: The Toronto Star

[TPO]

September 17, 2003

Petite Sweets: Latest cupcake renaissance proves that good things come in small packages

To me, cupcakes are the ultimate dessert. They bring out the kid in everyone, and each one is it’s own serving. It has nothing to do with not dirtying any dishes. Honest.

"They make you smile," says Jeanne Grierson, a Toronto player in the latest cupcake renaissance. On that sweet, simple premise, she has built a business and a charity called Eat My Words.

The Toronto woman emphasizes the "wow factor." She tops her oversized cupcakes with sculpted sugar flowers, bees, butterflies, ivy, bottles and baby booties — or decorations to suit any whimsy. She sprinkles them with gold dust. She delivers them in chic hatboxes — 10 for $55 — to everyone from hospital patients to birthday girls. She piles them on to towers for weddings, bat mitzvahs, luncheons, showers and corporate parties. At the Star, she set off a feeding frenzy after building a small tower with 45 plump cupcakes and 12 minis (a similar one would go for about $200).

Recipes for Magnolia Birthday Cupcakes, Carrot Cupcakes With Ginger Cream Cheese Icing, and Mock Hostess Cupcakes (includes recipe for Squiggle Frosting).

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A convenient future for fast food

Food editor Jennifer Bain ventures into conveniences stores for some pleasing fast foods.

I had a great Greek salad the other day on the Danforth — from Shoppers Drug Mart.

Black olives (with pits!), cherry tomatoes (bursting with flavour!), red onion, cucumber, red, green and yellow bell peppers, generous chunks of salty feta — all on a bed of crisp green leaf lettuce sided by a pouch of Longo's-brand "light Greek feta dressing with olive oil."

The restaurant-quality meal was packed into a clamshell and sold from the new Danforth/Pape Shoppers' branch for a reasonable $4.99. And it (plus other refrigerated salads and sandwiches) proved that convenience stores really are trying to attract fresh food lovers.

This page includes a recipe for Cheerio Chip Cookies.

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An ode to cooks' tools of the trade

Everyone has a kitchen gadget they’re attached to…some chefs and readers share theirs in this article.

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Eat to the Beat with women chefs

Many of Ontario's top women chefs — 59 of them at last count — are donating their expertise and edibles to Eat to the Beat. The eighth annual fundraiser on Sept. 30 benefits Willow Breast Cancer Support & Resource Services.

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Gord on Grapes

Star columnist Gordon Stimmell writes about wine each week. This week he rates three wines – one is under $7. With the exchange rate, that’s like the price of grape jelly.

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O Canada, he cooks in B.C. for thee!

Rob Feenie's Canadian Bistro seeks to further define Canadian cuisine in Vancouver.

Edited September 18, 2003 by TPO (log)

[TPO]

The Toronto Star – Sept. 24, 2003

Ontario’s ‘invisible’ workforce: More than 14,000 Mexican and Caribbean labourers come here each year to tend to our farms

I believe it’s good to know just what goes into food production. In Ontario, the produce that ends up at the grocery store gets there with the hard work of immigrant laborers. They are willing to work for low wages, which helps struggling Canadian farmers. And while there is a fine line between those who are appreciated and respected and those who are treated like outcasts, many do just fine.

Stop and savour the harvest

Food editor Jennifer Bain shares a Mexican-inspired meal to honor those who harvest the crops in Ontario. Recipes include Mango, Jicama and Cucumber Salad, Mexican Corn with Chilies and Herbs, Black Bean Chilaquiles with Smoky Chipotle, Dulce De Leche Pudding, Spaghettini Tomato Toss, and Shakshuka (Israeli Tomato And Eggs).

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Wolfgang Puck opens his first café in Canada

Wolfgang Puck is packing up his recipes and heading across the border. Monday is the opening day of The Wolfgang Puck Café in Oakville, next to Toronto. Puck has five other cities picked out if this restaurant does well.

The Oakville café will have a casual style and an eclectic Puck menu, with entrées from $13.95 to $29.95, and 40 wines by the glass. Samples: Chinois salad, pumpkin ravioli, salmon pizza, sushi, ahi tuna, key lime pie.

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Families have deep roots at Niagara wineries

Gordon Stimmell’s column, Gord on Grapes, reviews some Niagara Falls wines from Gary Pillitteri’s winery. Pillitteri made the transition to wine making late in life, and has been pleasing palates ever since. He also reviews a wine from Marynissen Estates, another family-owned winery in Niagara.

A recent trip to Niagara confirmed that the best wineries are often family affairs, where the vision of parents gets marvelously transformed by the children into a lifelong passion.

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Days of Awe and Apples

The 10 days of the Jewish calendar from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are referred to as the Days of Awe. There is grace, poetry and hopefulness in this period of reflection and atonement beginning with the Jewish New Year. Elegant as well is the tradition of dipping apples in honey to symbolize the hope for sweetness in the coming year.

This page includes recipes for Honey-Glazed Apple Bundt Cake and Country Apple Galette

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Puzzled? Pear with me

This article delves into the versatility of pears and offers some new ways of using them, including the recipes for Pear Scones with Maple Pear Butter, Sweet Potato and Pear Soup, and Chicken, Pear and Mushroom Risotto.

Pears are actually more versatile than they are given credit for. What do they go with? Try blue, brie and Italian cheeses; curry powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon; maple and caramel; port; raspberries; or white chocolate.

Kitchen Tipsheet: Pears

For more information on pears, including calories and how to ripen, check out this Tipsheet.

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Get your buns to Baldwin

No, not Alec. This article talks about all the great – and affordable -- food found on Baldwin Street, near the University of Toronto.

[TPO]

The Toronto Star – October 1, 2003

For the love of couscous

My first introduction to tajine took place in Rabat, Morocco, at the home of a family friend. I met Idriss El-Kittani in Toronto during his student days in 1960. He and his wife, Amina, enjoyed our home-cooked meals of Canadian and Middle Eastern dishes, and wanted to reciprocate.

"You must come to Morocco as our guests," they would comment. "I am sure after savouring our dishes, you will never forget Moroccan food — especially our tajines and couscous."

Few things make me happier than couscous. Whether you are a long-time couscous fan or looking for something new to try, this column is well worth reading.

When tajine and couscous are served together, they can become the core of delightful feasts — a tribute to Morocco's gifts to the culinary world.

This column includes recipes for Chicken And Almond Couscous, Tajine Fez (Lamb With Prunes And Honey), Tajine Mseer And Zaytoon (Lemon, Olive And Chicken), Tajine Hout (Fish Tajine), and Couscous Dessert.

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A seed by any other name

This brief article of pomegranate advice comes from California's POM Wonderful. Recipes include Pomegranate and Banana Salad and Pomegranate Cheesecake.

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Eat, drink, relax, rebuild

Michael Stadtlander of Eigensinn Farm held the Canadian Chefs' Congress this weekend.

Stadtlander wanted to foster a sense of community. He wanted people to reconnect with the land and the underappreciated riches of local food producers. He wanted to help southern Ontario's restaurant community rebuild after its gutting at the hands of SARS, the war in Iraq and the fallout of mad cow disease.

Getting chefs and restaurant industry insiders to gather is always a challenge, but you don't necessarily have to be a good Catholic to accept an audience with the Pope.

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Gord on Grapes

Gordon Stimmell reviews inexpensive wines once again. If you’re looking for a wine to pair with tandoori chicken, sirloin and bell pepper shishkebab, or breaded or grilled fish, check out Gordon’s selections.

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Lean mean caffeine leaves us full of beans

Good news. When visiting Canada, sleep is now optional.

Here comes the latest market-driven commentary on our revved up society: The Red Eye, Second Cup's latest jolt, boasts almost twice the caffeine of a regular cuppa. (As if we weren't already in overdrive.)

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Another lunch room curiosity

So Kruse, who works for a plastics company, came up with a solution — and proved no problem is too small to tackle for those who have a will and a way. He created the BanaBox, a curved, bright yellow container that sells for 3.90 euros online at http://www.banabox.de.

Before you get your hopes up over never having a mushed banana at work or school again, this nifty little container is only available in Europe.

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We were just wondering: Why YNEW?

This bread is organic, tasty, and unpronounceable.

Anyway YNEW is pronounced "ee-nay-wa" and it means "food to share with your heart." But that's in Quebec. Here in Ontario, distributor Andrea Mintz pronounces it "why new," since the French way is too confusing and people "never forget the 'new' bread."

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Join pineapple brigade

Susan Sampson tackles readers’ requests for recipes.

Recently, a reader asked how to make two old-time desserts that are probably among the most requested and most traded recipes around. There were a goodly number of responses, most of them exactly alike.

So here they are again, updated a bit for efficiency. Clip 'em. Save 'em. Don't lose 'em. Because this is last call for Pineapple Dessert and Impossible Lemon Pie.

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Diet for a brand new neighbourhood

I’m happy to hear that I’m not the only one to collect menus. My office is full of them because I collect them from everywhere I go. According to food editor Jennifer Bain, that makes me a food-obsessed chowhound. I’m okay with that.

It's ingenious. You explore the city on foot, treating yourself to small snacks, collecting menus along the way, then reading them at home over sweet ginger tea. Basically you walk, read and drink more than you eat. It's a food lover's preferred method of exercise.

Seriously, menus amuse me. I consider them essential reading. I horde them under my stainless steel cutlery organizer in the kitchen's highest-traffic drawer.

Recipes include Sweet Ginger Tea and Retro Mac And Cheese With Buttered Crumbs.

[TPO]

The Toronto Star – October 8, 2003

There’s a long weekend coming up in both Canada and the states. For the states, it’s Columbus Day. For Canadians, it’s Thanksgiving with all the turkey and fixings that go along with it. They celebrate it much the same way as the United States, just earlier –- and with good reason. The harvest comes earlier in the cooler climate.

Bounty in the county

Few things intrigue me more than regional cuisine. I just love the I love a community bound by its special tastes. This weekend, Prince Edward County in Ontario celebrates its local specialities with Taste! A Celebration of Regional Cuisine.

So this Saturday, the region's chefs, sommeliers, farmers and producers will gather at Picton's fairgrounds for the second annual Taste! A Celebration of Regional Cuisine.

Organizers expected 500 people last year, but got more than 1,200. They're expecting 2,000 this year to check out 52 vendors.

"Thanksgiving is when families come home," explains Lee Arden Lewis, executive director of Taste! "It is the harvest season. It's the best time to have fresh harvest fare. It's a time to get away with the family and taste local food."

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Dear Parkdale, you taste great these days

Food editor Jennifer Bain has taken on a new title – Saucy Lady. Her descriptions of the food finds in her area are almost enough to make me pack up and move to Toronto.

I zeroed in on your $3, bite-size beauties at the Parkdale/Liberty Community Farmers' Market on Saturday. They were so cute -- just 3 1/2 inches wide with clever crust tops and a dusting of icing sugar. I bought two.

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Drinks befitting a family feast

Gordon Stimmell is thinking about Thanksgiving already, giving advice and mentioning four choices by name.

But wait a minute. Has anyone heard of the Slow Food revolution?

And what about the civilized matching of wine with every stage of your culinary opus? Not to mention lingering conversation and lengthy enjoyment.

An amazing variety of wines pairs seamlessly with Thanksgiving turkey or ham. And the best matches are keyed to your culinary variations and side dishes.

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Breaking banana news

Good news! Banana protectors are now available in Canada, courtesy of three emergency-room physicians who had their contraptions patented and mass produced. For only $4.99 (Canadian), you can say goodbye to mushy lunchtime bananas.

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East meets West over turkey

May Yeung describes her Thanksgiving dinner in detail in this guest column. My only questions is: Where are the recipes?!

Thanksgiving dinner in our family is a combination of two culinary cultures — East and West. It's a gathering of family and food. A day when the pleasures of eating, laughing and talking converge in the kitchen.

The main attraction in our house is the turkey, of course — always finely roasted to perfection, with a skin crackling under a garlic-and-ginger paste.

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A modern Thanksgiving feast

Food editor Jennifer Bain shares recipes for Canadian Thanksgiving including Cranberry Turkey Pizza, Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips, Moosewood's Caramelized Onion Gravy, Prince Edward County Apple-Cheddar Soup and Prince Edward County Lavender Shortbread.

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Taste of Prince Edward County

For a taste of some of the 52 vendors that will be at Taste! this weekend, check out this list.

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Hot hot, hot for stuffed jalapeños

My husband and I ate all 20 of these jalapeños in one go. We couldn't stop. That says it all.

That does say it all. And food writer Susan Sampson includes her recipe for Stuffed Jalapeños in this article.

[TPO]

The Toronto Star – October 15, 2003

Running on eggs

In marathon season, runners eat eggs by the dozen, dream of double yolks and power up on protein

Eggs are an easy and inexpensive way to get your protein. And if you run marathons like Jane Van Der Voort, you need all the protein you can get.

This article includes recipes for Oat Power Burstaroons and Running Energy Balls.

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Lunch with Bob is surreal

Bob Blumer was probably one of those kids who ignored his mama when she told him not to play with his food.

At lunchtime in his Parkdale loft, he stuffs roasted cauliflower into cinema popcorn bags. He pokes breaded chicken "lollipops" on skewers into a huge watermelon wedge, and tropical shrimp kebabs into a whole pineapple. Southwestern chicken salad is scooped into red cabbage leaf "bowls." His pizza, slathered with pesto, is vivid.

Bob Blumer, the Surreal Gourmet, grew up in Montreal. Although he shoots his television show in Toronto, he lives in Los Angeles where he is working on The Surreal Gourmet Bites.

This article includes recipes for Presto Pizza with Grilled Chicken and Cauliflower Popcorn.

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Meal eggspectations

Food Editor Jennifer Bain wants breakfast to get the respect it deserves.

In Mexico, a friend introduced me to Memo's La Casa de los Hot Cakes with its 12 kinds of pancakes, nine kinds of waffles and myriad egg breakfasts. Leave it to a Mexican to sell tourists a stack of "California Dreaming," enticingly described as "the softness of pancakes with a crunch blend of granola."

She mentions some fun breakfast choices at Toronto recipes, and includes recipes for Hominy Porridge with Cape Gooseberries and Crispy Tortillas Scrambled with Eggs.

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Gord on Grapes

This week, Gordon Stimmell highlights some European wines ranging from $8-$13 offering something different to try with Coq au vin, strip steak, white deli meats, or hors d'oeuvres.

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Do they take a bite and put it back?

Pity the Royal Family — they've been eating chocolate from Charbonnel et Walker of London since 1875. Now the chocolatier's wares have arrived in Canada, with a selection in Holt Renfrew's Bloor St. store as of Monday.

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We like our shallots crispy

Food writer Susan Sampson went trendspotting, and found crispy, crunchy shallots. If you’ve got time to make these, she promises they are better than French's French Fried Onions. Susan includes recipes for Crispy Shallots, Green Beans with Crispy Shallots, Chili and Mint, and Tomato Salad with Crispy Shallots.

These crunchy tidbits have been spied in several magazine and TV recipes lately. They've been seen dressing up mashed turnips, winter vegetable purées, peanut sesame noodles, spinach and mushroom salad with Japanese dressing, bean spread, and even blood orange salad with vanilla vinaigrette.

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Menu for a girls' night in

You don’t have to be young -- just young at heart -- to enjoy a night of girl talk and junk food. But as a grown up, you can splurge on high quality junk food, indulge in R-rated movies, and bring alcohol into your room without worrying about getting caught.

One weekend, a few girlfriends and I decided to revive an adolescent tradition — and the best excuse for a group to break out the junk food. It's the slumber party.

Careers, husbands, travel and art openings had led to a serious lack of quality time with my girlfriends in the city. A quick poll of my overworked lady friends revealed that most just wanted to head to a place where relaxation and good conversation could carry on late into the night, and high heels were not required.

This article includes recipes for Spiced Wine Sauce (great over vanilla ice cream) and Pineapple Sea Breezes (with vodka).

[TPO]

The Toronto Star – Oct. 22, 2003

Crantastic tastes: A little red swamp berry draws big crowds at Muskoka harvest festival

A town of 500 has been invaded by 30,000 cranberry lovers for their 19th Annual Bala Cranberry Festival. At the festival, you can view the cranberry beds and watch them harvest the cranberries, and afterwards indulge in some local cranberry wine. And, of course, there is a baking contest.

Back in Bala, it's time to help judge the festival's baking contest.

There are 25 categories, including cakes, pies, tarts, loaves, cookies and preserves. But organizer Patty Irving is apologetic about the turnout. "People just don't come out the way they used to -- once there were line-ups to get to the tables."

Still, with 61 entries, it seems a respectable contest.

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Grillwich project

Toronto is a wonderful place to find foods from all over the world. Most restaurants there have souvlaki on their menus like American restaurants have burgers. Now it looks like Lettieri is turninggrilled panini on homemade focaccia into another popular treat.

Marrocco is now making 2,000 ready-to-grill sandwiches a week on homemade focaccia for Lettieri espresso bars in the city. Bestsellers include an herbed Frittata and the Lago di Garda, a protein-packed panino layered with smoked turkey, sliced tomato, mozzarella, hard-cooked egg and chick-pea spread.

Grilled panini are also appearing in local cinemas, bakeries, even supermarkets. In fact, anyone with a little extra counter space and $650 to $1,300 to spend can buy an Italian press at a restaurant supply store such as Faema and open his or her own paninoteca.

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Eat, drink and be charitable

Food editor Jennifer Bain reports on using food -- expensive food -- to raise money for Second Harvest.

Four refrigerated Second Harvest trucks pick up perishable food donations every day from grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, caterers, food manufacturers and distributors. They transport it to 129 social service programs in Greater Toronto, thus providing food for 11,000 people a day.

With 120 people attending for $350 each, and the kitchen staff donating their time, this dinner on Sunday should be a successful fundraiser. For their money, participants get a wonderful meal.

Not just any old dinner, mind you. Dinner at North 44° in the chefly hands of both Mark McEwan and Jamie Kennedy.

Dinner on a Sunday, when the Yabu Pushelburg-reno'ed restaurant is closed to walk-ins — and jazzed up by musician Karen Manion's trio.

Dinner that starts with seared foie gras and Riesling-braised apples on crostini (one of five "passed appetizers"), progresses to an Autumn Tasting Plate, and culminates in roasted buffalo tenderloin served atop a warm bed of squash truffle risotto.

Dinner that's accompanied by eight Mondavi wines, and commentary from a Robert Mondavi Winery ambassador.

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Red and white harmonize

In this week’s Gord on Grapes, Gordon Stimmell reviews his shiraz discoveries from the Australian Wine Experience last month.

Shiraz, for those not already in the loop, is made from the syrah grape originally from the Rhone Valley of southern France. It has sprouted in most great wine regions, including California, South Africa and Chile, and is the latest darling varietal among Ontario winemakers.

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JK has landed

Stop the rumours: Toronto's favourite chef has quietly created Jamie Kennedy Church Street.

Half of the space is an event venue that's already handling parties. The other half, a wine bar with an ever-changing grazing menu, should open next month.

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Cranberry recipes

Food editor Jennifer Bain and her test kitchen whipped up some cranberries recipes for everyone overflowing with leftover cranberries from Canadian Thanksgiving. Recipes include Cranberry-Lime Salsa, Gingered Cranberry Mouthfuls, Cranberry and Banana Flambé, and Roasted Cranberries with Pearl Onions.

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Personalize your panino

This articles contains suggestions for everything from meat and cheese to the grill and presentation.

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Panini recipes

Finally! All this talk about panini made me want some recipes. My cousin is getting a panini grill for Christmas, so I’ll be sure to pass these recipes along to her. Maybe I’ll get an invitation to give the grill a try.

Recipes include Roasted Garlic Mayo, Franco's Herbed Frittata (a bestseller at Lettieri), Il Parmese (a Caffe Doria recipe), and ACE Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

[TPO]

The Toronto Star – Oct. 29, 2003

Eating beyond the Inidan buffet

Indian food used to be high in fat content for a reason – people needed the fat and calories for hard manual labor. But now our nutritional needs have changed, and so has Indian food. Many restaurants in Toronto are cutting back on the fat and relying more on flavor. This article talks to Krishna Jamal, executive chef of Vancouver's famous Rubina Tandoori Restaurant.

Jamal believes in ladling up wholesome South Asian food at Rubina. When she was approached by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada to write it all down, she came up with HeartSmart Flavours of India in 1998.

Her collection of recipes highlights the variety of food available from South Asia. Besides listing recipes — such as yogurt soup, balti vegetables (a recipe from a region of Kashmir that borders Afghanistan and China) and chicken piri piri (a Goan and Portuguese concoction) — Jamal provides nutritional information for each dish plus a primer on Indian cooking ingredients.

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Bakery celebrates its rise

Atkins dieters, beware. The calling of hot, fresh bread is hard to resist, especially when it comes from Ace Bakery.

Hundreds of loaves of bread are artfully arranged, with dips and olives and spreads providing splashes of colour. The effect is sculptural and pleasing. Servers circulate with crostini and shots of soup. At the end of the hall, a chef prepares Ace Bakery's take on grilled cheese sandwiches, made with olive bread, basil garlic dip, chèvre, tomatoes, pepper and olive oil.

Recipes from The Ace Bakery Cookbook: Recipes For And With Bread include Shrimp and Avocado Butter Crostini and Pumpkin and Cranberry Bread Pudding.

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Gord on Grapes

Wine critic Gordon Stimmell reviews three wines in this week’s Gord on Grapes that go with penne in tomato sauce, chicken fajitas, and rib roast.

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Apple a day keeps the monsters away

Food writer Susan Sampson has a terrific suggestion for keeping the kids busy on Halloween. She includes recipes for Candy Apples and Caramel Apples.

Shiny red, cinnamon-scented candy apples and chewy, nutty caramel apples will keep your Halloween goblins occupied for a good long time.

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Cookbooks lead the way

Food editor Jennifer Bain gives readers her top four picks for cookbooks designed to cook healthy Indian food at home.

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Healthy Indian recipes

If you’d like to try before you buy, Jennifer Bain shares some recipes from her favorite Indian cookbooks. Recipes include Indian Potato Salad, Indian Omelette, Spicy Cauliflower (Sukhi Gobi), Masala Pork Chops, and Kashmir Lamb With Fennel.

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Feed your soul

This article gives the very basics of what eating is like during Ramadan.

A simple breakfast (suhur) is taken before sunrise. The fast is broken after sunset, traditionally with a serving of dates and water, followed by an evening meal (iftar). It is customary to spend the evening visiting family and friends, strengthening community bonds.

Recipes include Date Crescents and Date and Fig Bread.

[TPO]

The Toronto Star – Nov. 5, 2003

Thinking inside the box: Warehouse clubs turn shopping into an expedition for big spenders

Costco made food writer Susan Sampson buy a freezer.

Okay, so they didn't really make me. But what's a shopper to do, when everything comes in size large and larger?

Costco is one of those warehouse clubs. Members pay an annual fee for the right to shop there. It's part of a retail phenomenon with catchphrases like "big box stores" and "power centres." Shoppers pile their carts with bargains on everything from underwear to sushi. Think big. Think 130,000 or so square feet without frills.

For food buyers, it's a bonanza. But there's a catch: You've got to spend to save.

The article includes recipes for Citrus Hearts of Palm Salad, Steamed Ginger Garlic Salmon, and Toblerone Mousse. (Toblerone Mousse? I can’t wait to try that one!) It also includes price comparisons with other stores.

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Outfit for a tiny kitchen

Jennifer Bain has switched from being a food writer in an apartment to a food writer with a 64-square-foot kitchen in her very own condo. She’s put the kitchen to good use already, and shares her recipes for Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed With Chèvre and Almonds, Unbelievably Delicious Tarragon-Grape Salad, Easy Bake Porterhouse Steak, Curried Egg and Green Apple Sandwiches, and PB& J Crumble Bars.

She also offers shopping tips for outfitting a kitchen.

Sorry Jenn-Air, but my kitchen won't make a celebrity chef jealous. I reluctantly relinquished one day of my life to choosing appliances. Comparison shopped at the Bay and Sears in Yorkdale mall, then bought everything at Appliance Canada in Concord (it's for the building industry, not the public).

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Drink of the week

This brief article offers a recipe for a Gemini Martini and a couple of places to get specialty olives for your specialty drink.

[TPO]

Nov. 12, 2003

A pieous village: In a fit of teen power, a shy 14-year-old earns baking bragging rights for a year

The village of Warkworth, Ontario takes their pie-making very seriously. Their competition has all the thrills of a sporting event – rivaling teams, judges who leave under the cloak of darkness, and an upset by an unlikely teen.

It's 4 a.m. on the first Saturday of November and most sensible people are shadow-dancing with Mister Sandman. But others are already up to their elbows in flour and lard.

This somewhat obsessive behaviour is all part of the preparation for Warkworth's Perfect Pie Contest, the ultimate showdown among the village's finest bakers.

Food writer Jennifer Bain shares recipes for four famous Warkworth pies: Travis Clarke's Perfect Apple Pie, Pear and Ginger Pie, Cranberry-Raisin Pie and Corned Beef Torta.

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Stop and savour the harvest

Food writer Susan Sampson shares her favorite products – and a few recipes – from her trip to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

And of course, there's food, food everywhere. Fair-goers can test an array of samples, lug home hundreds of recipes and buy charming and unusual products. As you nosh and browse, you'll be hard put to stay away from all the fudge. But the Royal is primarily a venue for meat eaters, so try some roast bison or pepperettes of wild boar or chevon (goat).

Recipes include Lamb Shanks With Stout and Harvest Cheese Soup.

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Gord on Grapes

If you need an affordable wine to go with tomato-sauced penne, pepperoni pizza, calamari or scallops, Gordon Stimmel has a wine for you.

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How to sell soup in 2003

Campbell’s is going for a music tie-in to its Gardennay soup. The reviewer didn’t care for the Javier CD that came with the soup samples. But then, they didn’t care much for the soup either.

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In stores now

* Splenda No Calorie Sweetener is introducing the Granular Baker's Bag, the equivalent of a five-pound bag of granulated sugar.

* Tetley flavours rooibos tea with vanilla and brings it to the supermarket crowd. Rooibos is a robust herbal tea, caffeine-free, with higher levels of antioxidants than regular or green teas.

* The urge to provide the "complete coffee solution," as Melitta Canada CEO Bill Ivany puts it, is behind the company's introduction of whole bean coffee to its product lineup.

[TPO]

November 19, 2003

Where food meets art

Once again Jennifer Bain describes a wonderful place for food.

Ever play Food Fantasy Saturday Night? My posse invented it to mark the foodie happening of 2003 — the Yorkville launch of Pusateri's.

Not merely a fine food store, and way beyond simple supermarket, the new Pusateri's is a gourmet food gallery. 

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College has fine class of 2002

Gordon Stimmell delves into a variety of palate pleasers this week.

One measure of a great winery is when its unoaked chardonnay rivals or surpasses its oaked version in appeal and intensity.

Nouveaus ready to quaff

Gordon Stimmell adds a few more top picks.

Tomorrow morning, the annual parade of 2003 Nouveau Beaujolais wines hits shelves, and based on a sneak preview in the LCBO tasting lab, we have several real charmers for wine lovers.

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A potato is never just a spud

Food writer Susan Sampson had an opportunity to attend Potato School recently. Chef Tim McRoberts had lots of potato pointers.

When it comes to cooking potatoes, size does matter. So do moisture, and sugar and starch levels. So does the thickness of the skin. So does the variety.

Prince Edward Island has six grades of potatoes. Varieties include Yukon gold, goldrush, shepody, superior, kennebec, chieftain and norland, and the russets burbank, coastal and norkotah. But there's no regulation saying the variety has to be printed on the bag. In fact, there are hundreds of varieties of potatoes, and not a single one is right for all cooking methods.

It adds up to a recipe for potato confusion. Consumers pick up the wrong spud, then try to fix the problem with butter, sour cream or seasonings.

Includes a recipe for Feta Potatoes and some potato cooking techniques .

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A man with clear vision

Read about Ian Sorbie, president of Il Fornello (nine locations in Toronto, Richmond Hill and Oakville, and get recipes for Il Fornello's Butternut Squash Soup with Maple Essence and Il Fornello's Wine-Braised Beef Stew.

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Playing ketchup with meat

You can’t get much more kid-friendly than this recipe for Heinz Shepherd’s Pie.

The high ketchup content and hidden vegetables help make this week's version of shepherd's pie kid-friendly.

The recipe was printed years ago on Heinz ketchup bottles. Jim Little sent it in for Helga Bauman, whose family yearned for it. Little says his church uses the recipe.

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[Marlene]

You can’t get much more kid-friendly than this recipe for Heinz Shepherd’s Pie.

The high ketchup content and hidden vegetables help make this week's version of shepherd's pie kid-friendly.

The recipe was printed years ago on Heinz ketchup bottles. Jim Little sent it in for Helga Bauman, whose family yearned for it. Little says his church uses the recipe.

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I'm waiting for the Toronto Star to get a life and have better food reporting than this. There is so much more happening on the food scene in Toronto, and Shepherd's Pie with Ketchup is the best they can do?

[TPO]

November 26, 2003

Food bank back to pantry basics

Food bank items aren’t going to help people if they don’t know what to do with them.

Typical food bank hampers include cans and packages, soups and stews, tuna and pastas. But some clients are not familiar with the food or don't read English well, Cox says. "We realized that newcomers were having difficulty figuring out what's in the boxes."

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Trans fats spark fear: Spreading the word about margarine, oil and butter. Which is best?

Mairlyn Smith, a Toronto home economist, gives her own opinion on the butter vs. margarine debate, and provides a primer on the subject.

All fats are bad for you, right? Wrong. Some fats are good, others are bad. In fact, some are downright evil. So how do you tell the good guys from the bad guys? Learn your fats. Read your labels and brief yourself on up-to-date advice from Canadian experts.

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Gord on Grapes

If you’re looking for an inexpensive wine to go with steamed mussels in wine sauce, roast lamb, roast beef, osso buco or a hearty stew, Gordon Stimmell has some suggestions for you.

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Enlightened eating

Jennifer Bain gives a brief review of The Enlightened Eater's Whole Foods Guide: Harvest The Power Of Phyto Foods by Toronto dietician and nutritionist Rosie Schwartz.

THE POINT: To teach us that phytochemicals are compounds in plants that may reduce the risk of disease. To inspire us to eat more phyto foods ("disease-fighting superstars") such as grains, soy, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, wine, chocolate and tea.

Recipes include Roasted Sesame Ginger Edamame and Sesame Quinoa Salad.

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[TPO]

December 3, 2003

A big batch of Greek cookies

Eight weeks of Christmas baking. Twelve hundred pounds of flour. Ninety-six litres of canola oil. One hundred and two litres of Canadian whisky. Two crates of oranges. Forty-five dozen double yolk eggs. Forty thousand Greek cookies.

This isn’t a new business venture. Forty thousand Greek cookies is how many it takes to provide gifts for Barbara Zigomalis’ family and friends.

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Read, read wine

Instead of giving wine to the wine lover on your holiday gift list, try a book on wine instead. Gordon Stimmell has a few suggestions.

Wine books pour in on me all year long. One thing is certain: Only a few cellar well. Most are made for instant consumption, and are outdated by the rapidly changing wine world faster than you can say gewurztraminer.

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Season's eatings: Come all ye hungry bakers It's time for a cookie exchange

And here's something to ponder while you bake: Many feel cookie exchanges are on their way out (too much squabbling, too many allergy concerns, too exclusionary of those who don't cook).

Tea exchanges, on the other hand, are on their way in. Just buy your favourite loose-leaf or bagged brew, gather with people and swap.

No cooking required.

Hmm. I’d rather have cookies…

Recipes include Marie's Pumpkin Seed Squares, Wilma's Cardamom and Pistachio Cookies, Natalie's Crookie Bark, Helenmaria's Fruit Balls, David Miller Power Cookie, and Tracey's Coffee Butter Cookies.

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Cookie cooks find tips, types in field guide

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Worldly cookie recipes

Traditionalists can always make shortbread, but those who long to expand their cookie horizons for the holidays can find inspiration from around the globe. Here's an international selection to get you started.

Recipes include Sicilian Cookies (Pastine Bianche), Moroccan Biscotti (Feqqas), and Vietnamese Peanut Cookies.

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Petit fours in five

The entertaining season is upon us. Guests are likely heading your way and the situation calls for style and flair. Panache. Time and careful planning.

Unfortunately, I rarely have time to wash my hair, so I usually fly by the seat of my pants.

I do, however, wish to appear a truly gifted host with the ability to effortlessly transform the mundane into the magical. So I cheat — as with these petit four cookies.

Recipes include Sweet Orange and Chocolate Petit Fours and White Chocolate and Cranberry Petit Fours.

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Baking charitably

Here's a taste, adapted from A Shortbread Sampler by former Toronto Star home economist Mary McGrath. Proceeds from the sale of this slim book of 50 recipes, first published last year, go to the Star's Santa Claus and Fresh Air Funds. In Toronto, it's sold at the Cookbook Store, Pusateri's Fine Foods, Bruno's Fine Foods and the Private World of Mary Tripi (a hair salon). Starphone (call 416-350-3000, press 6432), sells it for $10.65, including tax and shipping.

Recipe for Ginger Chocolate Shortbread

[TPO]

December 10, 2003

A 30-year vegolution: Don't let the v-word keep you from eating the Moosewood way

Food editor Jennifer Bain got to travel south for this article – all the way to Ithaca, New York to dine at the legendary Moosewood Restaurant.

Passion is certainly key to Moosewood's ongoing success. But Moosewood is a mighty, modern food force because it's willing to evolve beyond drab veg fare and embrace new flavours.

Back almost to the beginning, for a minute. Who hasn't owned a copy of the 1977 classic Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, with its simple beige cover, pen-and-ink sketches and handwritten recipes for labour-intensive dishes?

Moosewood recipes include Spanish Chickpeas, Roasted Russets with Chipotle Aioli, Toasted Oatmeal with Date Glaze, Black Bean & Chocolate Chili and Apple Quesadillas.

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Gord on Grapes

If you’re looking for an inexpensive wine to pair with hard cheeses, chicken, Chinese cashew chicken or prime rib roast, Gordon Stimmell has some suggestions for you.

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Martini craze is all about looks

Jon Filson thinks that if a drink is called a martini, it ought to at least resemble one.

The other night, I was at Wild Indigo on College St. sipping martinis. At least I think they were martinis. One looked and tasted suspiciously like a Tim Hortons café mocha, served in a martini glass.

The martini craze has been here for years now, so I wasn't surprised at what I was drinking. But let me put it like this: If you ordered a bourbon on the rocks, and you were brought what looked like a Wendy's Frosty in a highball glass with a couple of ice cubes stuck on top of it, wouldn't you raise an eyebrow?

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We, too, salute spirit of Russia

Technology has caught up with those who believe the old Russian saying that there cannot be too much vodka, there can only be not enough vodka. The Web site http://www.vodkaphiles.com includes vodka history and reviews by the National Vodka Tasting Panel. Learn how to put together a zakuska, or hors d'oeuvres, table to nibble along with your vodka.

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All fats not created equal

If you’re concerned about trans fats, toss out the Oreo cookies and head for the kitchen.

Here are five trans fat-free recipes. They're from The Ultimate Healthy Eating Plan (That Still Leaves Room for Chocolate), the nutrition cookbook I co-authored with dietitian Liz Pearson. All are kid-friendly.

Recipes include Blueberry Muffins, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Super Snackers and Guiltless Chocolate Cake. I guess the icing for the cake counts as recipe number five.

[TPO]

December 17, 2003

Canuck duck: How about a farm-fresh, locally raised duck this holiday season? We tour a Newmarket duck farm

Pekin ducks are raised with care at a family-owned Ontario business, making them a Canadian treat. Food editor Jennifer Bain adds that the thought of cooking duck need not be intimidating.

Don't be scared — duck's a breeze to cook. And those rumblings about fatty duck? Not true. Like turkey and chicken, duck stores its fat beneath the skin, so use it to enhance the flavour while cooking and then chuck it out before eating the lean meat.

Recipes include Duck Breasts with Honey-Soy Sauce, Spicy Lacquered Duck and Maple Roast Duck.

Warning: Don't use American recipes when cooking Canadian ducks. Yankee recipes are geared to the muscovy duck, which has less fat, cooks faster and dries out more quickly than our Pekin duck. 

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It's fry time for latkes

Duck isn’t the only thing Jennifer Bain wants people to try—she also tried to convince her readers that latkes also should not be intimidating.

Tradition dictates that potatoes be grated by hand, with bloody knuckles being proudly displayed and oil-scented homes, clothing and hair being quietly tolerated. Naturally, the latke reform movement champions food processors and oven baking.

Recipes include Sweet Potato Latkes, Apple Cider Brisket, Apple Kugel and Honey-Soaked Figs With Sesame Seeds. Bain added that “Parsnip-Potato Latkes With Horseradish Cream recipe from Cooking Light also sound good.”

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The wine Oscars

Anyone who reads our wine critic Gord Stimmell knows his mission is to provide you with the best of affordable wines. In his annual version of the wine Oscars, Stimmell doesn't focus on famous, expensive wines. Instead, he reviews proven low-cost performers and the upstarts who may be the stars of the future.

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You must be crazy to cook this

Food writer Susan Sampson has taken on the new title of Crazy Cook.

Welcome to Crazy Cook, an occasional series featuring unusual recipes and strange food combos. Cooking is chemistry. Sometimes, an experiment will blow up in your face. Sometimes, you get a pleasant surprise.

This week, Sampson combined ground beef and pomegranate juice to make Pomegranate Meatball Soup.

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Supper for a wintery weekend

This is the same Nigella Lawson column from the December 10 New York Times.

As far as I'm concerned, there are two major kinds of cooking, and the distinction I make is not between types of foods but the approach to preparing them.

There is the sort of cooking you do for guestless dinners, for one or two of you, when you need not think too much in advance or even that much while you are actually cooking, and then there is the sort you do when people are coming over.]

Recipes include Involtini (“eggplant sliced and grilled then stuffed with an herbed cheese filling and baked in a tomato sauce”) and Spinach Salad with Lemon and Mint.

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[TPO]

December 24, 2003

Seasonal snacking

This article by Cynthia David covers my favorite snack – the one I am eating as I type this digest – popcorn. While the microwave versions might not be the healthiest snack in town, popcorn itself has snack, crunch satisfaction and even a bit of fiber.

When trans fat hit the news in November, microwave popcorn rated near the top of every list of foods containing the dreaded hydrogenated fat — right up there with our favourite cookies, crackers and potato chips.

Next came a report listing popcorn poppers as one of the fastest growing trends in housewares for 2004.

And just last week, New York chef and TV star Rocco Dispirito launched a cookbook containing not one but two recipes featuring the fluffy white stuff. 

David also provides instructions to Pop it yourself along with recipes for Chili Popcorn and Rocco's Caramel Corn.

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No need to go cold turkey

We keep our eyes open year-round for leftover turkey ideas. Here are four, including one made from ordinary ingredients and three that embrace Mexican flavours. We've thrown in a whole turkey recipe ... in case you haven't settled on one yet.

Recipes include Tortilla and Jalapeño Turkey Casserole, Post Turkey Day Mexican Pozole Stew, Smoky Turkey Chili and Debris Sandwiches as well as Turkey with a Chinese Twist.

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What the television chefs predict for 2004

And now a word from the Yanks and Brits. In the Dec. 17 Food section, we heard what Canadian chefs with shows on Food Network Canada predict will be fresh for 2004. This week we look outside our borders.

Chef predictions come from Jamie Oliver, Tony Bourdain and Mario Batali.

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It's like a punch from a velvet glove

It’s a drink, it’s a dessert, it’s anything you want it to be – it’s a recipe for Real Eggnog.

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You can cross heartburn off Christmas list

Food writer Susan Sampson and dietician Jean LaMantia offer some definitions and tips for holiday heartburn, as well as a recipe for Ahi Tuna Salad.

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[fresco]

I notice that both Bourdain and Battali say Spain will be a major influence in food, lifestyle.

[TPO]

December 31, 2003

Four food wishes

Listen up, Toronto. We've got serious food dreaming and scheming to do in 2004.

Our city is in dire need of revitalization in the deliciousness department. 

If Toronto makes its signature dish out of fried slices of peameal bacon on a bun slathered with maple mustard, as food editor Jennifer Bain suggests, Emeril will be on the next flight out.

Bain also wants to improve street vendor products and bring in a giant farmers’ market as well as a teahouse.

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Seven wine wishes

Gordon Stimmell has some wine improvements for the Toronto scene on his wish list for the new year.

Despite a growing chorus of detractors, Toronto is still a great place in which to live and work and play. But when it comes to the local wine scene, there's big room for improvement. Here's my wish list for 2004 — driven by the hope we can some day be more wine-friendly as a city.

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It was a delicious year

The test kitchen of the Torono Star had more recipes than it had space in the newspaper. Eight recipes that didn’t make the cut until now are:

* Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Onions

* Chipotle Black Bean and Hominy Soup

* Modern Minestrone

* Chinese Meatloaf

* Creamy Lemon Tuna and Pasta Salad

* Cornmeal-Crusted Wings

* Lord Chutney Wings

* Coriander Dip For Wings

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Lord of the lamb (and other exports)

With 4 million people and 40 million sheep, it's no wonder that lamb has become synonymous with New Zealand. But New Zealanders do not live by lamb alone. Or by kiwifruit, the country's second most famous food export. They have everything from honey to hake — and they want to tell the world.

It's a soft sell nowadays, thanks to the Lord Of The Rings. New Zealand's awesome landscape is a major star in the Tolkien trilogy. Never has a country's public profile been raised so high, so fast. Its food exports capitalize on the pristine environment, the lush pastures and clean waters, the fresh air, the reverse seasons. New Zealand is clean and green. 

Food writer Susan Sampson includes recipes for Potato Salad with Smoked Mussels and Roasted Peppers, Avocado Oil Vinaigrette, Honey Pots De Crème and Dukka.

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Hoppin’ into 2004

Okay residents of the southern United States, see if Jill McIntosh is remembering her southern holiday celebrations correctly.

Once Christmas' candied yams and bourbon-spiked eggnog are finished, cooks across the South get ready for New Year's Day with greens, cornbread and the star of the show, a plate of Hoppin' John.

I was born in the South and though I've lived in Canada most of my life, I can't imagine greeting the new year without this improbably named dish of black-eyed peas, ham and rice.

McIntosh includes a recipe for Hoppin’ John.

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Mocha madness kicks in

Dull, dark and dreary days take their toll, and by mid-afternoon moods nosedive and the arduous task of keeping eyes open seems insurmountable.

I need help. My drug of choice? Mocha.

That fabulous triple threat of chocolate, coffee and sugar may not be what the doctor ordered, but it does the trick when you're undone by cruel northern darkness.

Pamela Steel turns her favorite treat into fabulous desserts, and includes recipes for Mocha Bourbon Pots De Crème and Mocha Cupcakes.

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Now that’s real hot chocolate

At first I was disappointed that this article didn’t include a fantastic recipe for making hot chocolate with warm milk and melted chocolate, but one look at the recipe for Chili Devil's Food Cupcakes and I forgot all about the beverage.

Combining chocolate and chilies isn't as weird as you might think. The spices seem to boost the chocolate flavour.

The recipe is adapted from a dessert by chef Bobby Flay.

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[TPO]

January 7, 2004

An oasis of sweets: Ancient Middle Eastern pastries evolved into delectable desserts for today's cooks

Toronto writer and recipe developer Habeeb Salloum and his daughter recently recreated some medieval Arab sweets.

Arab sweets are very different from the cakes and pies of the Western world. Often, they are paper-thin, layered pastries filled with nuts, spices and butter, then soaked in Qatar (a syrup made of sugar or honey).

Their gratifying taste has inspired poets and men of letters through the centuries. An Arab poet once said: "With our exquisite and luscious sweets, can the beauty of any woman compare?" Another bard asserted: "To eat the pastries of the Arabs is to make a person's life serene and happy and keep away evil."

Salloum shares the roots of these desserts, as well as recipes for Baklawa and the Syrup (Qatar) that gives it flavor, Shredded Dough Cheesecake (Knafa bil-Jibn), Gazelle's Ankles (Ka'ab Ghazal), Date Cookies (Makroodh), Nut Rolls (Nashab) and Honey Cake-Pie.

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Jamie Oliver's twist on the simple life

Food writer Susan Sampson recently met Jamie Oliver. He’s wrapped up Jamie’s Kitchen, and now he’s moving on to the lunch menus of British schools.

Oliver's goal is to take over one school cafeteria, buy regionally and cook on-site. But will the kids thank him for it? "They're kind of giving the kids what they want," he admits.

The eye of the camera will, of course, be following him. A documentary is planned for the finale.

Recipes include Celeriac And Truffle Oil Soup, Croutons and Grilled Mozzarella

Rosemary Skewers.

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Last but not least, a cornucopia of recipes

We admit we're gluttons for cooking. So here are some more recipes that we tested last year, loved enough to print, and couldn't find space for — until now.

Recipes include Spiced Maple Syrup, Blueberry Corn Pancakes, Breakfast Polenta

with Mascarpone and Honey, Pumpkin Biscuits with Orange-Honey Butter, Kidney Bean and Banana Salad and Rosemary Rib Roast.

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Gord on Grapes

Gordon Stimmell reviews inexpensive wines to pair with beef stroganoff, grilled lamb chops and tomato-spiced sausage pastas.

[TPO]

January 14, 2003

Just tri, tri, try this: The tri tip is an affordable and little-known cut of beef that's sure to grab headlines in 2004

Looks like Canada’s Mad Cow scare had one benefit – Canadians are now able to enjoy a tri tip steak. Food editor Jennifer Bain should plan a trip to California, where this cut of beef embellishes bread slices across the region.

According to John Baker of the Beef Information Centre in Canada, it has traditionally been more profitable to sell our tri tips to the American market.

That changed last May during the mad cow scare when Canada's beef export market was closed and local retailers could finally get some tri tip. "The response has been terrific," says Baker, retail merchandising manager for Canada and the U.S. "Today's consumer is always looking for something new."

Recipes include Basic Tri-Tip Roast, Double Sesame Tri Tip Roast and Chili-Crusted Tri Tip Roast.

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Globetrotters promoting flour power

Learning how to bake in kitchens from Uzbekistan to Hanover, Ont., was the latest adventure for these two globe-trotting, award-winning cookbook authors from Toronto. The result is HomeBaking: The Artful Mix Of Flour And Tradition Around The World (Random House Canada, $60).

They say North Americans have stopped baking for complex reasons, including practical considerations like lack of time and urban living (we can buy products so easily), as well as psychological considerations, like expectations of perfection and fear of failure. Although everything has a learning curve, in the kitchen, we expect perfect, easy results the first time.

Recipes include Banana Coconut Bread and Cardamom Sweet Potato Roti.

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Winemaking a noble profession

Gordon Stimmell puts away his affordable wines this week and tells an interesting tale about winemakers.

Surprisingly, most of these princes and barons and contessas are very down-to-earth. The royals in the wine game are never aloof or stuck up. It helps that they are selling a product to Canada, of course, and they appreciate good press.

Still, I was a little taken aback over lunch with Prince Alain de Polignac when he insisted that I drink his fine champagne with a straw from the bottle.

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Whet taste buds for 2004

Trendspotting is a risky business. There's a slim difference between predictions and wishful thinking. 

That may be true, but food writer Susan Sampson is willing to give it a try anyway. Her picks include vanilla, avocado and grapeseed oils, tea, grits and beans.

She also selected artisan breads. Maybe the Atkins craze hasn’t hit Canada yet.

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Green eggs and no ham

This healthful version of the old-fashioned omelette uses fewer yolks and low-fat cottage cheese. Still, the dill gives it zip and there's ample greenery in this substantial, satisfying meal.

Recipe for Watercress Omelette, from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites by the Moosewood Collective.

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Single malt scotch gets kick in the crotch

So, last fall, instead of raising the prices with its limited supply — which potentially would have opened up the market to competitors — Diageo tried to hold on to the sales by changing the drink, which had been made the same way for the past 30 years.

The company turned what had always been a single malt scotch into a blend — a vatted malt, technically, as other single malts, but not grain malts, were mixed in. 

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[TPO]

January 21, 2004

The icewine cometh: Our 'liquid gold' has spawned imitators around the world. Here's a guide to the real thing

Canadians don’t complain about their cold weather—they use it to their advantage. When nature gives them frozen grapes they, of course, make wine. Wine writer Gordon Stimmell tells us what Canadian winemakers offer, and what others do to mimic them.

Flattery breeds imitation and "icebox icewines" are made in California, Australia and other lands where the winter is not cold enough to make natural icewine. These wines are left to hang on the vine as long as possible, thrown in huge freezers, frozen, then pressed.

In Canada, Vintners Quality Alliance regulations strictly decree that grapes must be frozen on the vine by Mother Nature during three days of —8C to —10C temperatures. The brown-hued grapes have hung on the vine for months after normal harvest under protective netting and have shrivelled like raisins, concentrating the sugars. When the frozen grapes are crushed, the concentration increases — because only the juice is taken — and the ice removed. An entire vine full of grape bunches will produce only about one small glass of icewine.

Stimmell also gives a brief paragraph or two about a variety of icewine makers as well as what to look for when selecting icewine.

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All the tea (?) in China

Food editor Jennifer Bain just returned from two weeks in China, and her taste buds may never be the same. She offers her Chinese perspective, as well as recipes for Ginger and Egg Fried Rice and Yunnan-Style Pork Soup with Vegetables.

I've now adopted a rice-based diet (instead of a chocolate-based one) and vow to always have cooked rice in my fridge to eat with copious greens and make fried rice experimentation (recipe below) a cinch.

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The flavour of breakfast

Quaker Canada says that boosted calcium is the hot breakfast trend for 2004.

The other four trends gleaned by company researchers: Saturated fat is a no-no. People want breakfasts that can be slipped into purses or briefcases and munched on the go. (Eighty-five per cent of Canadians say lack of time is an obstacle to healthier eating.) Canadians want to wake up to bolder, richer flavours. And yes, our mothers told us how important breakfast is; we're finally listening, it seems.

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Eaters' Choice

If you live in the Toronto area, here’s your chance to cast your food-related vote on what’s happening around Toronto and in your kitchen.

It's time for you to vote with your stomachs in our second annual Eaters' Choice awards. The awards celebrate — or even gently mock — the food-related happenings of the year.

All you have to do is think back over 2003 and decide who or what should nab the award in any or all of 30 categories.

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Guinness redefines `party'

In between electing a Prime Minister in Canada and a President in the United States, there’s another election.

Last week at the Bier Markt in Toronto, the Guinness Party of Canada announced its nationwide search for a "Minister of Good Times," which somehow, Prime Minister Paul Martin neglected to include in his own cabinet, unless you think finance minister Ralph Goodale once was a party guy. 

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The trouble with buying tri tip

To clarify the confusion that came from last week’s tri tip article, the Toronto Star offers additional information and tips.

Unfortunately, readers who raced off to their meat counters and butchers last week were overwhelmingly rebuffed by butchers who had never heard of the cut or — even worse — tried to sell readers briskets, top sirloins, rump roasts and more, claiming they were tri tips.

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Gord on Grapes

Gordon Stimmell offers inexpensive wine choices to pair with steak au poivre, coq au vin, and roast chicken with gravy.

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[TPO]

Toronto Star, January 28, 2004

Good to the last dropping: Two Canadian food sleuths set out on the trail of rare, wildly expensive coffee beans

At $500 a pound, Kopi Luwak beans are a rare treat desired by serious coffee aficionados like Massimo Marcone, who traveled to Ethiopia in search of these beans. Where these beans come from, however, is not for the faint at heart.

Scarcity aside, Kopi Luwak's allure and its sky-high price are directly tied to the tree-dwelling civet cat. Without the Indonesian civet, there's no Kopi Luwak. They dine on the ripe coffee bean cherries, consuming the pulpy outer fruit, before leaving the beans, literally, behind in their excrement. The dung heaps are territory markers, refreshed at regular intervals.

Aficionados contend that passing through the cats' intestinal tract adds incomparable taste to the beans.

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It’s our wine county

Gordon Stimmell talks about wine from Prince Edward Island, and reviews a few of his favorites.

Prince Edward County is the little wine region that grew. And despite the savage ravages of the last two Ontario winters on infantile vineyards, it keeps on growing. 

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India's big cheese: Paneer is protein; It soaks up flavour

Toronto-based freelance writer Aparita Bhandari talks about paneer, from New Delhi, India to Toronto.

Often explained as the Indian cottage cheese, paneer (pah-NEER) is a fresh, unripened cheese, similar to farmer's cheese or pot cheese. It's the balancing "protein factor" in the South Asian diet and is mostly used in South Asia's northern regions.

In Toronto, most South Asian restaurants serve up this important ingredient in the South Asian diet. Two of the most common paneer dishes are matter paneer (with peas in a tomato gravy) and palak paneer (in a spinach purée).

Recipes for Tawa Paneer and Matter Paneer

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How strudel became chic

Chef David Bouley has opened his second restaurant in Manhattan, and he’s redefining strudel.

Strudel pastry — the pride of Austria, Hungary and Germany — has its roots in the Middle East, and this may be the reason phyllo dough is the perfect substitute for the homemade variety.

Still, Bouley insists that every strudel lover take a stab at making his or her own dough. The dough itself is simple enough — it's made by combining flour, oil and egg, working it until silky, then letting it rest. The art of the dough is in the gentle stretching on a floured cloth until it is thin enough to read a newspaper through and "large enough to wrap around a hussar and his horse."

Fortunately, the recipe for Chic Apple Strudel is made with store-bought phyllo.

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Experienced cook has recipe for longevity

Food writer Susan Sampson wonders if a recipe can be considered lost if it was never written down in the first place.

Just a dash of this and a bit of that in the hands of an experienced cook. It was all in the touch of a finger, a sniff, a taste, a quick adjustment. Freeform. Impossible to duplicate, just imitate.

Betty Berofsky typifies the style.

"I have no recipes. It's all in here," she says, pointing to her head. "I pour right from the bag and it comes out beautiful."

Includes a recipe for Poppyseed Cookies, fleshed out from an outline provided by Berofsky.

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Eater’s choice

Just a reminder for Toronto-area restaurants to email your votes for the second annual Eaters' Choice awards.

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[TPO]

The Toronto Star – February 4, 2004

Please Pamper me

Food editor Jennifer Bain went on a binge, and it didn’t have to do with food. Well, it sort of had to do with food. She spent a pile of money on Pampered Chef gear for the Toronto Star test kitchen.

Well, some things are fidgety and annoying — like the food chopper ($39.50). My choppables get stuck in it, and after rinsing I can't get it back together without the instructions. The smooth-edge can opener ($24) acts as advertised, but again I have to stop and think about how to use it.

The simple stuff is a dream. I'm thrilled not to have to isolate my yolks from my whites by hand any more, thanks to the egg separator ($9) that hangs on the edge of a bowl. And I love, love, love my adjustable measuring spoons (two for $9.50). I admire my classic batter bowl ($17) for coming with a lid so it doubles as a storage jug.

Includes recipe for Chicken and Broccoli Braid

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Go with the flow

Olive oils are proliferating as fast as questions about them

Here's a primer to guide you

Food writer Susan Sampson discusses the different grades of olive oil, the difference (or lack thereof) between cold-pressed and first cold-pressed olive oil, the four categories of olive oil as defined by oil expert Deborah Krasner in The Flavors Of Olive Oil: A Tasting Guide And Cookbook and more.

But where does that leave the shopper standing, puzzled, in front of an array of bottles? Oils of every type and price are proliferating on the shelves as fast as the questions about them. Do you buy the supermarket house-brand extra virgin for $3.49, the French stuff at the gourmet shop for 20 times that amount or, most likely, something in between? It's a slippery slope for shoppers and cooks. This oil primer should help.

Recipes for Fish with Garlic, Tunisian Potatoes and Orange, Almond and Caraway Cake

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The many fats of the land

Food writer Jenny Koniuk tackles other cooking and flavoring oils, including grapeseed oil, coconut oil, hazelnut oil, sesame oil and more.

Oils enhance mouth-feel, conduct heat during cooking, and, if unrefined, can add flavour, aroma and nutrients to foods. Although many do double-duty, the oils in our kitchens can be divided into two categories: cooking oils and flavouring oils. 

Recipes for Swiss Chard with Raisins and Pine Nuts and Hazelnut and Asian Pear Salad with Gorgonzola

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[TPO]

Toronto Start – February 11, 2004

Dozen questions for rose seller: It's one of the most awkward, and feared, restaurant moments. You're enjoying a night out when a rose seller appears.

Check out Jennifer Bain’s Q&A with Joan Newyear -- "the wandering florist" for the past 20 years.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are slow, so I don't always go out. Thursday, Friday and Saturday it's good — you can sell in the region of 50 to 60 roses a night. You go out about 10 o'clock until closing (1 a.m.) — but you have to have permission before you go into a restaurant or nightclub. Sometimes I have to give a commission or pay a flat rate of $20 to get into a nightclub. But I would say (restaurant and nightclub owners) are very kind in Toronto in letting me sell flowers to their customers.

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Gord on Grapes

Gordon Stimmell has some inexpensive wine suggestions for pizza with black olives, Chinese orange-glazed chicken and porterhouse steak.

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The hottest chocolate

If you prefer hot cocoa to wine, Margo Varadi rates different hot cocoa mixes with descriptions like “tastes like a chocolate bar.”

My mission, to pinpoint the best homemade hot chocolates, took me across the city to gourmet grocers, chocolatiers, supermarkets, health food stores and cafés. I bought 18 brands and enlisted six friends to test them.

Varadi includes a recipe for Peppermint Hot Chocolate By Fresh.

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A `clean' Canadian fish

Daniel Elliott operates Daniel's Ark Fish and Wildlife Preserve in Caledon. In the 34-acre preserve, Elliot raises ‘clean’ fish without pesticides and pellets.

Daniel's Ark catches and smokes some fish for sale, but recreational anglers have been catching the bulk of the fish — about 10,000 a year — since the preserve opened in 2001. For $30, a family of two parents and two children (or one adult angler) can fish for five trout or pickerel and 15 perch. 

Includes a recipe for Daniel Elliott's Way With Trout.

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Cook, eat and be happy

Jennifer Bain offers up recipes for romantic foods from the test kitchen.

* Sweet Corn Blinis

* Garlicky Rapini with Sausage And Peppers

* Cauliflower and Kale Soup

* Mint Fried Rice

* Maple Bananas

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MP waging war on trans fat

The fat's in the fire in Ottawa. Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew quickly exited the House of Commons amid echoes of "trans fats, trans fats!" last Friday, after first reading of a private member's bill to banish the stuff in processed and fast foods. 

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Less meat, more fruit: Doctor trims cholesterol: U of T researcher David Jenkins makes nutrition his life work; Study proved his diet plan worked as well as medication

Medical reporter Elaine Carey spoke with Dr. David Jenkins, Canada Research Chair in nutrition and metabolism at the University of Toronto.

About three years ago, Jenkins and his colleagues decided to put all those foods together into one diet. They developed a plan that includes oat bran bread and cereal, soy deli slices and burgers, as well as fruits, vegetables and almonds, and began testing it on patients with high cholesterol readings.

[TPO]

Toronto Star – February 18, 2004

Chilling, thrilling vodka: The icy age of vodka is upon us, but you already know that if you're a young, downtown professional

The only thing standing between poor sales and success is a good PR campaign aimed at the right demographic.

"Vodka is a lifestyle," declares Sean Haley, publisher of Vodka magazine, a bimonthly out of California that debuts this month. "Vodka magazine is catering to the new downtown urban bohemian. It's no longer just a cocktail, it's an attitude."

Consider it a counterpart, and a corollary, of single malt scotch. The same way that single malt scotch has come to mean "old school, right-wing, rich, red meat and cigar," vodka has cemented itself as "young, lefty, West Coast, urban, trendy and fun."

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It’s Oscar time for our wine

Ontario's version of the wine Oscars — Cuvee 2004 — is on our doorstep. This posh event celebrates the best in Ontario winemaking each year with a gala food and wine extravaganza as well as meting out medals to winning wines.

Gordon Stimmell sipped 66 wines on behalf of Toronto Star readers. He lists over 25 of his top picks. It’s a tough job, but someone had to do it.

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Chilly hospitality: At Canada's only ice hotel, vodka is the drink of choice

Why drink vodka over ice when you can drink vodka in a glass made of ice, on a bed made of ice?

Consider it a test. Someone calls and says, "Want to stay overnight in an ice hotel?" You answer:

a) No.

b) Maybe.

c) No, and I mean it this time.

I don't know if anyone screams, "Yes! That sounds like the most fun you could possibly have, EVER! EVER! Imagine, staying in a hotel, where the indoor temperature is —5C, where you sleep on a block of ice that's covered with the hide of a dead animal, and you're wrapped in a sleeping bag that takes a half-hour introductory course just to climb into! And what does it cost? About $500 a night! I mean, how could I say no! Sign me up!"

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It's beer brawl time in Canada

Canadian’s don’t just care about their beer, they care about where their beer comes from.

Labatt has branched into print advertising pointing out that Carlsberg beer is no longer being brewed by Labatt — which, until January, had been the case for the past 15 years. The ads reveal that more than 300 bars, pubs and restaurants have opted to stop selling Carlsberg. 

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Serious stove time

A trio of unconnected recipes to help you eat well and cook creatively through this bleak month.

Recipes include Charro Beans, Sweet Potato Smash and Scotch-A-Roos.

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What makes a great pita?

Food editor Jennifer Bain seems eager to report that Pita Break pitas are now available in stores in the Toronto area.

Hmm. Looks plump and yummy. Feels thick and fresh. At home, the true test: It tastes blatantly superior to its competitors. Pita Break pitas - particularly the flax and multigrain versions - are instantly welcomed into my home to mop up hummus and shelter hamburgers.

Recipes include Pita Break's Middle Eastern Eggs and Pita Break's Baba Ghanouj.