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

[KatieLoeb]

Wow - another great blog and blogger, from another part of the world I know nothing about.

Your daughter is an astonishingly beautiful girl.

[CaliPoutine]

In the city I would normally have a Tim Horton's everything bagel, double toasted, with plain cream cheese on the side. And not cut it in half again if I can get to them before they do it.

I take my bagel the same way. Sometimes I ask them to scoop out the middle before toasting. You'd have thought I asked them if they carried Starbucks Coffee the way they looked at me.

[saskanuck]

What an interesting blog this will be! It would be wonderful to be both a chocolate maker and a physician.

Your daughter is beautiful. The first picture of her in closeup is just lovely.

[tammylc]

Q: How can you spot Ms Canada at the Ms Universe competition?

A: By her plaid flannel swimsuit!

SB (alternately, you might catch het putting vinegar or gravy on her french fries)

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Or both. Or, in my high school, vinegar, gravy AND ketchup. Frequently topped with a generous amount of black pepper.

[Kerry Beal]

Vietnamese Chicken Thighs

Take 2 planks of chinese brown sugar candy. Put in small pot with a couple of tablespoons of water.

Cook until it caramelizes. Deglaze with 1/2 cup of water. Add 3 tbsp fish sauce, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp of sirracha sauce or a few drops of other hot sauce.

Saute 1 medium shallot sliced, and 1 1/2 ounces of ginger root, julienned until softens in 1 tbsp olive oil. Set aside.

Add another tbsp of olive oil to pan, brown about 3 lbs of chicken thighs. Add the caramelized sugar/fish sauce. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Remove the thighs from the pan and reduce the liquid until nice and syrupy.

Add back the thighs, the shallots and ginger. Cook together for a couple of minutes. Serve with rice and garnish with spring onion.

Edited September 19, 2006 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kouign Aman]

The vicarious travel is such a wonderful part of these blogs. This blog is amazingly photo-rich, including a beautiful child and beautiful cats. Your Sam looks like a tom cat I used to own - big soft and in charge.

[Kerry Beal]

The vicarious travel is such a wonderful part of these blogs. This blog is amazingly photo-rich, including a beautiful child and beautiful cats. Your Sam looks like a tom cat I used to own - big soft and in charge.

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Sam's actually the siamese, and female. But she is in charge. Toby is the very, very, very fat black and white, he's second in command. Widget is the terrorized cat, he lived under the bed for the first 2 years we had him.

[Ling]

Great blog, Kerry. I can't wait to see the birthday treats!

[John DePaula]

Vietnamese Chicken Thighs

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Oh Kerry, that looks absolutely D-LISH! Can't wait to try it. BTW, if I can't find the Chinese Brown Sugar Candy, is there an acceptable substitute? Thanks!

[Kerry Beal]

Vietnamese Chicken Thighs

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Oh Kerry, that looks absolutely D-LISH! Can't wait to try it. BTW, if I can't find the Chinese Brown Sugar Candy, is there an acceptable substitute? Thanks!

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I'd probably use just brown sugar, or maybe palm sugar or something of a similar colour.

[Kerry Beal]

So things are coming along finally for the party tomorrow. I have made the chocolate cake and the buttercream, I'll just have to assemble it tomorrow.

I am currently making a Lentil du puy and black olive dip to serve with pita, and my baba ganouche has had to be scrapped.

I had cooked the egg plant, it was lying on a plate on the counter, totally pooped, when I realized I have no tahini, no sesame seeds to make tahini, and of course it's the middle of the night and the only stores that stay open late around here have milk, chips and videos.

The eggplant is on it's way to becoming bathenjane. I sauted an onion in olive oil, added the eggplant, some cumin, garlic, salt and pepper, some tomato paste and water and it is bubbling away in a frying pan on the stove. I would normally bake it, but since the eggplant was already cooked I'm trying it a bit differently. It will also be served with pita.

[snowangel]

Did Kira like the chicken thighs? Heidi would eschew them in favor of rice with the sauce...(with perhaps a bit of finely diced chicken mixed in; oral motor problems).

[Kerry Beal]

Did Kira like the chicken thighs?  Heidi would eschew them in favor of rice with the sauce...(with perhaps a bit of finely diced chicken mixed in; oral motor problems).

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Actually with me working in the ER today, dinner got made after she had already eaten. She was eating some Petite Danone yogurt things, and she was gagging and choking. I turned to see why she was choking and Malou announced that Kira was fine, she just didn't like it. Sure enough, Malou tried it again a while later and she gacked. The critter is developing taste buds.

[jayt90]

Can you tell us about the people on the island? Some of the locals, or ER drop ins?

And the fall produce, and what they like to do with it?

[Kerry Beal]

Can you tell us about the people on the island? Some of the locals, or ER drop ins?

And the fall produce, and what they like to do with it?

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The population here is very interesting. Like any island it has a whole lot of rugged individualists. The kind that don't come in until the limb is rotting off and even then, only because the smell was bothering the wife.

Entertainment runs to smoking, drinking and making babies for a part of the population. However there are also large number of artists on the island, and a contingent of folks from the big city who come up for a summer vacation and never leave. Some of the city folks don't make it past the first winter, others do just fine.

There are a number of large reservations on the island and on Friday I will be working in Wikwimikong and you'll get to meet some of the locals. There is a huge issue of diabetes on the island, not limited to the natives. I think the natives are genetically programmed to a feast or famine way of life, so their bodies very efficiently store food when they get it. These days there isn't any famine.

Fall produce on the island would be cattle corn, human corn, apples, pears, some berries, squash, tomatoes, zucchini, beets etc. Blueberries are available on the mainland but don't tend to grow on the island for some reason. There is a small farmers market in town on Saturday that we will try to make. There is also an organic garden that you can join, your box shows up on Friday, containing whatever was harvested that week. Several of the docs belong, so I often benefit. Last year it was swiss chard as I recall.

[Abra]

Thanks so much for the recipe, Kerry. I had to laugh at the 1/2 tsp of sriracha. Does sriracha come in amounts that tiny? I'd probably sextuple that.

I'll be the one to ask what I'm sure everyone's dying to know, the story of Kira. Is she your birth daughter? Can she communicate with you in some way? is it possible that she'll "catch up" and be telling you off about the yogurt some day?

[Pan]

Dr. Beal, you must be very popular at the office! I think you're the first doctor I've heard of who bakes muffins for the staff!

I didn't realize Manitoulin was the largest fresh-water island. It must be really big! I've visited Pulau Samosir, a sizeable island in Lake Toba on Sumatra. I had an amazing experience there that involved food, but it's probably pretty irrelevant in this blog.

Your remarks about the genetic tendencies of First Nations people (we call them Native Americans in the U.S.) to retain fat for times of famine ring true to this Jew. I think the same thing is true of Ashkenazic Jews, African-Americans, and indeed many other peoples around the world (Malays included, apparently). Obesity is the product of excellent adaptation to times of scarcity and high levels of physical activity (migrations on foot, hard labor, etc.), isn't it? I don't mean to hijack your blog, but since you're a doctor and brought this issue up, maybe you'll want to elaborate on it as relevant. It's your blog, so it's up to you.

Enjoy your week of blogging from such a picturesque place!

[Edit: I forgot to mention that if there are any yellow haws on the island, they are great as sweet preserved fruit! I got some in Beijing and loved them! The Chinese preserve the red haws much more often, and they're also not bad at all.]

Edited September 19, 2006 by Pan (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Kira opening her birthday presents, and of course trying to eat the paper.

Today for work I'm taking snickerdoodles.

Kira's cake frosted with buttercream, now where are the damn candles?

I'm off to work now, I'll try to answer some questions while I am there.

[Kerry Beal]

Thanks so much for the recipe, Kerry.  I had to laugh at the 1/2 tsp of sriracha.  Does sriracha come in amounts that tiny?  I'd probably sextuple that.

I'll be the one to ask what I'm sure everyone's dying to know, the story of Kira.  Is she your birth daughter?  Can she communicate with you in some way?  is it possible that she'll "catch up" and be telling you off about the yogurt some day?

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The million dollar questions!

Kira was adopted from Vietnam. Our first trip to see her was when she was 5 weeks old, then we brought her home at 3 1/2 months. We met her birth parents and extended family on both trips. Her mother, a very beautiful woman with gold eyes flecked with copper, was very ill. She likely had rheumatic heart disease and was apparently in congestive heart failure when she delivered. Kira was likely born 11 or so weeks early. She was only 2.1 kg when we first saw her. Her mom has since died. Kira has 3 siblings in Vietnam. Men in Vietnam don't do well raising children by themselves, hence the need to give Kira up for adoption.

I worked in a clinic in Hanoi while we were there on our second trip. I was on call on New Years eve, while all the other docs were out drinking. When the shit hit the fan with an HIV positive german tourist who developed encephalopathy (brain infection) I had a drunk doc on the other end of the cell phone helping me arrange transport to the clinic. In Hanoi you can't just call 911 and get an ambulance. It was a very interesting locum, let me tell you. I got paid very little, but it allowed me to write off the trip.

Kira was developing slowly, but apparently normally until 7 months when she had a day of seizures. She was placed on medication, never had another seizure, but it was a year or so before her EEG normallized. She spent a couple of years on medication, but is on no prescribed medication now.

Does Kira communicate? I tell people she can whine in 5 languages. She is getting much more efficient at letting us know her needs. She starts to whine, we hold a drink in front of her, if she kicks her feet and smiles, that's what she wants. Pretty rudimentary, but we are starting with some sign language. She seems to have a pretty good grasp of 'all done'.

I dare to dream that some day she might catch up, she has certainly made huge progress since the start, and we see signs all the time. But the folks at the big developmental assessment centre, who can't tell us what is wrong with her, have clearly stated that she will be dependant her entire life. Hope she will prove them wrong.

It always interests me what comments that people make. The first question I always get asked is "is that your granddaughter?" I've been gray since high school, and I'm no spring chicken these days, but on the odd occasion it really bugs my ass.

The next best was the retired doctor who was in her 80's I was taking care of in hospital a couple of weeks ago after she had a small stroke. She had all her facilties, but her body was a bit weak yet. I bring Kira with me on hospital rounds on the weekend, I have since she was a baby. Well, the old dear says to me that I should get Kira into an institution as quickly as possible so my husband and I can get back to our lives. I have to allow for the fact that she was a product of her times. I laughed and asked if she knew where I could find one of these institutions in this day and age. That kind of brought her up short, as I guess she was unaware that even the parents who desperately need to find a facility for their child are unable to do so these days.

[hathor]

Next million dollar question: do you sleep??? You certainly seem to take on huge tasks and do them very, very well. Brava!!

Ok, now for a 25 cent question: what is sriacha? I just saw this on the dinner thread, and now here. That chicken dish looked delicious!

Thanks for blogging. Some very interesting stuff going on in your life! Is the island as flat as it appears in the pictures? What happens when it storms? Is flooding an issue?

Sorry. I'll stop asking questions. For now.

[Kerry Beal]

Dr. Beal, you must be very popular at the office! I think you're the first doctor I've heard of who bakes muffins for the staff!

I didn't realize Manitoulin was the largest fresh-water island. It must be really big! I've visited Pulau Samosir, a sizeable island in Lake Toba on Sumatra. I had an amazing experience there that involved food, but it's probably pretty irrelevant in this blog.

Your remarks about the genetic tendencies of First Nations people (we call them Native Americans in the U.S.) to retain fat for times of famine ring true to this Jew. I think the same thing is true of Ashkenazic Jews, African-Americans, and indeed many other peoples around the world (Malays included, apparently). Obesity is the product of excellent adaptation to times of scarcity and high levels of physical activity (migrations on foot, hard labor, etc.), isn't it? I don't mean to hijack your blog, but since you're a doctor and brought this issue up, maybe you'll want to elaborate on it as relevant. It's your blog, so it's up to you.

Enjoy your week of blogging from such a picturesque place!

[Edit: I forgot to mention that if there are any yellow haws on the island, they are great as sweet preserved fruit! I got some in Beijing and loved them! The Chinese preserve the red haws much more often, and they're also not bad at all.]

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Oh god, you call me Dr Beal, it makes me nervous. I'm Kerry to everyone. I never have done formal very well.

I have been baking stuff for the staff since my residency. Our Behavioral Science (read family doc psych) instructor gained 20 lbs over the two years that Anita Wong and I were in residency together. We would bring all sorts of treats every week. For years every emerg shift I worked in Grimsby I would bring treats. I'm starting to work back there in a month or so, and I don't think I'll get back to baking every shift.

So can I hear your amazing island experience that involves food? I think this is a perfect place for it, being on an island and all.

I have lived an a couple of islands in my life. I was in the military for a while (not something that worked for me) and lived on the Queen Charlotte Islands for 3 years. I lived on Vancouver Island for a year after that. Islands are a world apart.

As far as the diabetes goes, it just blows me away how many diabetics there are on this island. 8 year old kids are non insulin dependant diabetics. Here in Little Current we can't do surgery, but we have a 5 bed dialysis unit. I have seen more amputations, gangrene and serious sequelae of diabetes here on the island in a 4 week period, than I do in over a year at home.

Serious accidents are an almost daily occurance here. with alchohol playing a major role, and deer being another cause. You get charged by the RCMP if you flinch and swerve to avoid a deer, causing an accident. That being said I treated a cop this summer who had an accident swerving to avoid a deer.

Funny you should mention the chinese hawberries, I have bought them in the past and tried them (the red ones), but they aren't very exciting dipped in chocolate. I'll keep an eye out for the yellow ones.

[Kerry Beal]

Next million dollar question: do you sleep??? You certainly seem to take on huge tasks and do them very, very well. Brava!!

Ok, now for a 25 cent question: what is sriacha? I just saw this on the dinner thread, and now here. That chicken dish looked delicious!

Thanks for blogging. Some very interesting stuff going on in your life! Is the island as flat as it appears in the pictures? What happens when it storms? Is flooding an issue?

Sorry. I'll stop asking questions. For now.

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Sriacha sauce is a hot chili sauce found in Vietnamese restaurants and markets.

Actually Manitoulin isn't flat. There are lots of hills and flooding is not a problem. This summer they had quite a storm though, the power was out for 5 days and a whole lot of barns and outbuildings got blown down.

I do sleep, usually I'm in bed by 11 or so, up around 6:30 or 7. I just kind of plug away at things, and have everything where I want it in my kitchen so I can put things together quickly when I want to. I do get carried away with projects. Something catches my interest and I get really involved in it for a while.

I haven't told you guys about the vacuum microwave project yet. Mostly because I haven't got it to work they way I want yet.

[Kerry Beal]

Lest anyone get the opinion that Manitoulin is made up entirely of unsavory types who would drink and drive, I do want to correct that thought. You must remember I'm spending a lot of my time in emerg and seeing a rather selected population which is in no way representative of the entire island.

There are a lot of cottagers on the island, a huge number of retirees, and for the better part of the year a whole lot of tourists. An interesting thing I've noticed in the years I've been coming is the number of european tourists. Speaking a bit of german would be very helpful. I think what attracts the europeans is the hiking trails (we are on the escarpment that runs from Niagara Falls), the gorgeous natural views and the water. There is water everywhere, lakes in the island, lakes around the island.

The sunsets here are phenomenal, and the number of stars you see at night are neverending.

[Kerry Beal]

oh yeah, and crosscountry skiing, Cafe in the Woods, quilting, weaving, lacemaking, painting, potlucks, powwows, fishing, hunting, birdwatching, Misery Bay, Carter Bay, Bridle Veil Falls.

(I had a little help here)

Tomorrow for lunch we are going to go to a funding raising event and have Indian Tacos. This will fit nicely with Flocko's blog, cause these are frybread with taco fixings same as he mentioned. And they are quite delicious.

I'm inserting a little something here that was just e-mailed to me, describing a potluck on the island.

"At the cross country ski clubhouse, and we had Persian

dishes, German dumplings, Moose, Bear, Sushi, Herb

Roasted Potatoes, Lasanga, fresh bread & bannock, and

the usual assortment of salads and side dishes.

Where else would you get Moose, Bear & Sushi on the

same table?

I was just thinking of that!

Ahhhhh Memories!"

[annanstee]

Hi Kerry,

Tell us about Cafe in the Woods!

My husband is from S. Ontario, and we keep meaning to visit Mantoulin. You have given extra motivation. Looks beautiful.

Edited September 19, 2006 by annanstee (log)