eG Foodblog: Kerry Beal - ChocDoc in the Land of the Haweaters

[helenjp]

I love the look of that blueberry buckle. Do you have a recipe? I'm a furriner, and I don't know what a "buckle" is, but frozen blueberries are available in Japan, and I'm certainly game to try making it!

Interesting about diabetes - in my native New Zealand, there is also a very high incidence of diabetes with Maori and Pacific Island people. Here in Japan, I was told that some races (including Chinese and Japanese) seem to have a lower "trigger" for diabetes - it's associated with lower levels of obesity than for Europeans, and severe symptoms occur more often, apparently.

My son's friend has grown up with a very ill diabetic father, and since he was small, has declared that he will be a chef when he grows up, so that he can cook traditional Japanese food that will keep people healthy.

In New Zealand, I can't help wondering if moving away from traditional slower-digesting starchy foods like taro, sweet potato, fern root etc. has something to do with it too.

[Kerry Beal]

I love the look of that blueberry buckle. Do you have a recipe? I'm a furriner, and I don't know what a "buckle" is, but frozen blueberries are available in Japan, and I'm certainly game to try making it!

Interesting about diabetes - in my native New Zealand, there is also a very high incidence of diabetes with Maori and Pacific Island people. Here in Japan, I was told that some races (including Chinese and Japanese) seem to have a lower "trigger" for diabetes - it's associated with lower levels of obesity than for Europeans, and severe symptoms occur more often, apparently.

My son's friend has grown up with a very ill diabetic father, and since he was small, has declared that he will be a chef when he grows up, so that he can cook traditional Japanese food that will keep people healthy.

In New Zealand, I can't help wondering if moving away from traditional slower-digesting starchy foods like taro, sweet potato, fern root etc. has something to do with it too.

←

The whole diabetes thing is very interesting isn't it. It certainly brings a high burden of illness to the medical system in Canada.

I'll do up the buckle recipe later, maybe someone out there can explain the difference between, buckles, grunts etc.

[Kerry Beal]

Here is all I had to look at this morning out my front window.

We are off to Wikwemikong shortly. From now on it will be referred to as Wiki, as it is here. I will be doing rounds at the nursing home in the morning and working in the clinic in the afternoon.

We will try to have lunch at "Table for 2", a restaurant owned by one of the nurses and his partner.

Our original plan was to go out for dinner at Rocky Raccoons, but we aren't sure we can face going to 2 ends of the island on the same day, so we have decided to come home and make paella.

Hope you will join us.

[srhcb]

I'll do up the buckle recipe later, maybe someone out there can explain the difference between, buckles, grunts etc.

←

Alton Brown did an entire episode on this subject.

"Deb Duchon, nutritional anthropologist, takes time out from her job as a waitress (actually cover for research) to fill Alton in on the history of the cobbler. Alton’s theory that the treat gets its name from its surface – which could be said to resemble cobblestones – is…wrong. Actually, it’s simpler: cobbler is, well, cobbled together. It encompasses several variations, such as the brown betty (fruit mixed with layers of bread crumb and sugar), the buckle (cake, fruit, and crumble topping), crisp (fruit topped by a crispy layer), grunt (stewed fruit with a biscuit like dough), and the pandowdy (stewed, but with a crumbly topping)."

SB (80 miles south of THE border, and has recipes for both "bars" and "squares")

[Kerry Beal]

I'll do up the buckle recipe later, maybe someone out there can explain the difference between, buckles, grunts etc.

←

Alton Brown did an entire episode on this subject.

"Deb Duchon, nutritional anthropologist, takes time out from her job as a waitress (actually cover for research) to fill Alton in on the history of the cobbler. Alton’s theory that the treat gets its name from its surface – which could be said to resemble cobblestones – is…wrong. Actually, it’s simpler: cobbler is, well, cobbled together. It encompasses several variations, such as the brown betty (fruit mixed with layers of bread crumb and sugar), the buckle (cake, fruit, and crumble topping), crisp (fruit topped by a crispy layer), grunt (stewed fruit with a biscuit like dough), and the pandowdy (stewed, but with a crumbly topping)."

SB (80 miles south of THE border, and has recipes for both "bars" and "squares")

←

Thank you Steve!!!

[Smithy]

This is a fine blog, Kerry, and I want to add my thanks for your time, efforts and lovely photos.

The molded chocolate surprised me. I thought you were never, ever supposed to put chocolate in the refrigerator because of the bloom that would develop, yet you put your freshly molded beauties in there to cool off. Are the rules different when the chocolate is still in the mold? That pig is so fun, it makes me want to try out a buy a bunch of chocolate molds and chocolate and make more glorious messes in the kitchen.

Love and coffee are a winning combination. Thank you for sharing that excellent story.

I'm glad you took the trouble to show your pasta-making in the in-between steps. I'm never sure whether mine is going right. Your photos make a good guide. Thanks!

In the sailors' defense: is it possible that they were just leaving the marina and hadn't yet gotten properly under way? What do you suppose the skipper would say to the discovery that the boat and its gaffes are immortalized for all time on eGullet?

[Pam R]

Excellent blog Kerry, I really like your curt writing style - you seem to say all the right things in exactly the right amount of words. Manitoulin Island reminds me of manitoba and the lake culture there, ah how I miss visiting my friend's cabins in the summer.

Do we get to see pictures of the finished pigs?

←

Gabriel,

Lake of the Woods? West Hawk?

Not Gabriel, but yep and yep! When I was growing up we had a cottage just north of Kenora and the Lake of the Woods and spent a lot of time with family at Falcon Lake (next to West Hawk) - your pictures definitely remind me of those places. Just beautiful.

[srhcb]

Methinks perchance your chocolate pig has some common kinship with the Saratoga Peppermint Christmas Pig?

SB

[Gabriel Lewis]

I think the pig looks great, it has the strangest look on its face.

I also love the picture of the horizon in the morning, lake country at its best.

As some of you may know, Manitoba has over a hundred thousand lakes, westhawk and lake of the woods are two of the bigger ones (thought most or all of lake of the woods is in Ontario If I remember correctly). A good friend of mine has a lovely cabin on an island in lake of the woods, his mother bought it back in the sixties before real estate prices soared. I have also been to westhawk lake which is quite lovely, but a little cold and a little too developed for my tastes. My understanding that it was formed from the crater of a meteor or asteroid and is about 80 or 90 feet deep at its deepest points, great for scuba diving. Another lake I enjoyed was starlake, which I believe is in the whiteshell. I think my favorite lake though was Jessica Lake, which is actually quite close to winnipeg. It is actually two lakes, big jessica and little jessica and a friend of mine had a great cabin on a cliff of sorts overlooking little jessica. There is little in the world I would trade for a weekend at Jessica lake - waterskiing, tennis, trips to the rapids, and board games on the screened porch. But, best of all were running leaps off the dock several times a day (and night) when you just gotta beat the heat.

Keep up the good work Kerry!

[annanstee]

I'll do up the buckle recipe later, maybe someone out there can explain the difference between, buckles, grunts etc.

←

pandowdy (stewed, but with a crumbly topping)."

←

Pandowdy can also be a pie crust top that is cut into the filling after its baked

[Kerry Beal]

Off to Wiki to work.

Inside the medicine lodge, I was asked not to take any pictures of the herbs or sacred objects, but you can see some hawberries drying in boxes on the left.

Dropped off the goodies we brought in the lunch room.

Within minutes plates of food had moved to desks.

Two hours later, not much left but crumbs.

Table for 2 no longer doing lunches, the owner and his partner have split. Partner has gone back to Toronto. Wiki is kinda small for an out gay couple. So we had to go to Patsy's for lunch. Everything fried of course.

Bad picture, but this is poutine, fried, grated cheese curd and gravy. And I did add ketchup, but no vinegar.

Edited September 23, 2006 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Methinks perchance your chocolate pig has some common kinship with the Saratoga Peppermint Christmas Pig?

SB 

←

You know what they say...pigs of a feather...

[racheld]

I LOVE molded chocolates!!! And the shine---I've never understood the tempering, how to know when and what to do. And the research it must have taken, getting the temps and times just right. It's an art AND a science.

The scenery is really lovely, and I'm imagining I'm getting the scent of that woodsy, northern air.

We got one of those pink peppermint pigs as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. It was a fun thing to do after Christmas Eve dinner, passing it around on a little wooden platter, each one tapping off a small minty shard for tasting. Chris still carries the little hammer in his toolkit; when a stubborn machine just WON'T co-operate, he gets out the little hammer, gives the machine a tiny tap, then tells it about the BIG hammer out in the car.

[monavano]

Disco Fries!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_fries

Edited September 23, 2006 by monavano (log)

[Kerry Beal]

_

Some of my mise for the paella. Amazing chorizo that I get in Sudbury of all places, in the mall.

_

Frying up the onions in the rendered fat from the chorizo. Then adding most of the ingredients back in, simmering for a bit before putting in oven.

_

The best of a bad lot of pictures of the finished paella coming out of the oven. Dressed to eat, except I forgot the lemon wedge in the picture. Not a great picture taking day, I must say.

It was delicious, if I do say so myself.

Edited September 23, 2006 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kent D]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd be terribly reticent about eating in a "Family Restaurant and Gas Bar"...

seems like a bad evening just waiting to happen.

[Kerry Beal]

I LOVE molded chocolates!!!  And the shine---I've never understood the tempering, how to know when and what to do.  And the research it must have taken, getting the temps and times just right.  It's an art AND a science.

The scenery is really lovely, and I'm imagining I'm getting the scent of that woodsy, northern air.

We got one of those pink peppermint pigs as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago.  It was a fun thing to do after Christmas Eve dinner, passing it around on a little wooden platter, each one tapping off a small minty shard for tasting.  Chris still carries the little hammer in his toolkit; when a stubborn machine just WON'T co-operate, he gets out the little hammer, gives the machine a tiny tap, then tells it about the BIG hammer out in the car.

←

I love the little friendly persuasion idea. Made me laugh big time.

[Kerry Beal]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd be terribly reticent about eating in a "Family Restaurant and Gas Bar"...

seems like a bad evening just waiting to happen.

←

You'd have to see the other choices - there is a new pizza place, there is the coffee shop out back of Andy's (the grocery/hardware/clothing store). Unfortunately the Indian taco stand was closed for the season.

They did offer me lunch in the nursing home before I left, I saw a couple of the staff eating it, it looked and smelled delicious, but of course I had to make sure the kid and nanny got fed too.

For all that, poutine makes a delicious heart attack on a plate, but next time remind me to order the small instead of the large, eh!

[snowangel]

Kerry, the pasta uptopic. It looks beautiful! I can never get mine so nicely rolled out; perhaps I just need to knead it more.

And, BTW, when the Nanny (or PCA, as we call them here) beckon for something, you appease them because they are your (and Kira's and Heidi's lifelines). Bless those folks!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, the pasta uptopic.  It looks beautiful!  I can never get mine so nicely rolled out; perhaps I just need to knead it more.

And, BTW, when the Nanny (or PCA, as we call them here) beckon for something, you appease them because they are your (and Kira's and Heidi's lifelines).  Bless those folks!

←

You know what? The kneading is the thing. You have to pass it through the thickest roller, then fold in 3 and do it over, until you have a nice smooth sheet that doesn't crack along the edges. Then, and only then do you start to thin it through the rollers. It was a long journey to come to that realization, and a lot of crappy pasta until I did.

Having had two excellent nannies, and a couple of less than excellent nannies, and one that childrens aid got to deal with, you are so right. A good nanny can be the boss if she wants.

[Kerry Beal]

For anyone who was interested I have posted the recipe for the blueberry buckle in recipeGullet here.

[MarketStEl]

Here is all I had to look at this morning out my front window.

We are off to Wikwemikong shortly.  From now on it will be referred to as Wiki, as it is here.

Can anyone edit the town? And what happens if they don't get it right?

We will try to have lunch at "Table for 2", a restaurant owned by one of the nurses and his partner. 

←

Sorry to hear about the split. Being out in a small town, even in Canada, can be a bear.

Oh, and can you explain the significance of this place being "Canada's only unceded Indian reserve"?

[Kerry Beal]

Here is all I had to look at this morning out my front window.

We are off to Wikwemikong shortly.  From now on it will be referred to as Wiki, as it is here.

Can anyone edit the town? And what happens if they don't get it right?

We will try to have lunch at "Table for 2", a restaurant owned by one of the nurses and his partner. 

←

Sorry to hear about the split. Being out in a small town, even in Canada, can be a bear.

Oh, and can you explain the significance of this place being "Canada's only unceded Indian reserve"?

←

Damn Sandy, I knew someone was going to ask about the unceded part and then I was going to get into trouble for expressing my politically incorrect opinions. So I'll try to answer sans too much opinion.

Wiki didn't cede it's rights to the government back when treaties were being signed by all the native groups. In exchange for signing treaties, as I understand it, the governments part was to provide to each and every native an 'Indian Allowance'. This is a monthly cheque that goes to each person.

Over time what constitutes an eligible native has changed. Initially, as I recall, you had to be full blooded native, and you had to live on a reserve to get your cheque. Then, you could be half blood, then part blood but lineage passed via your father. At some point I don't think you had to live on the reserve any more as long as your ancestry met the appropriate criteria. These days I think you can be considered native even if the lineage involves your mother, but don't quote me on it.

So Wiki never signed an agreement and ceded their rights to the government. Money still comes in, but instead of going to each individual in town, the reserve government determines how it is spent. Wiki is a very affluent reserve, but there are certainly haves and have nots in town.

Housing is built by the reserve and there are no homeless individuals. There is the medical center that is open daily and that has an attached traditional medicine lodge. There is a medicine man and a number of herb gatherers under him. There is a rather old, but well run nursing home, populated by both natives and whites. There are numerous community buildings and services available. They have alchohol rehab, jail rehab, psychiatric supports, a whole lot better supports than you will find on the rest of the island.

And re being out in a small town, takes more guts than most would have I'd say. This is a town where hunting with guns and bows is de rigueur. Yet they bought the restaurant, made a very popular dance club in it at night, did the whole white picket fence thing, in the middle of Wiki!

Gotta think the stresses of small town life are hard on any couple.

Edited September 23, 2006 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, without breaking patient confidentiality (!)  (spot the lawyer in the room), can you give me an example of one of these amazing names?  If you can spell it, that is...

←

I've got another one for you, I did check with her that it was alright to mention it.

"Nowquaikezhikgoquai"

Means something to the effect of 'woman who bashes clothes on a rock in a stream under a nice blue sky'

She grew up with a name as common around here as Smith.

[Kerry Beal]

I had a couple of pictures to post this morning. The first just showing the misty rainy day we are having and the second to show a fine example of what happens when a glass bottle full of just made BBQ sauce proves once again that it is unable to fly. No glass in my feet so far.

I'm having trouble uploading photos today, so I'll post later when I'm able.

I'm off to the emerg now, I'm on call again today. I hope I have better luck than the doc working yesterday, because he was apparently up all night.

The plan today is to make BBQ spareribs. I'll braise them for a few hours between trips to the ER and BBQ them with the sauce I made this morning when I get a chance. And of course left over paella for lunch. I like it even better day 2.

I think today calls for dessert. All we've had this week is the blueberry buckle and the birthday cake, oh yeah and a bunch of chocolate, but that doesn't count. I'm thinking maybe gingerbread (oh wait, no that won't work, nanny doesn't like ginger). Any suggestions out there?