Roasted tomatoes
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

In supermarkets, you can now find sun-dried or oven-roasted tomatoes. These often sell in tiny little packages for ludicrous prices when really all they amount to are low-grade tomatoes dried into shoe leather. This is not very appealing to me.

Instead, you should make them at home. Although it takes a lot of time for them to be ready, you really don't have to pay attention to them. Just start them off in the morning and pull them out in the evening. Or, if you are adventurous, have them roast in your sleep.

You'll find that drying out the tomatoes concentrates their flavour beautifully. Unlike reducing them in a sauce, the flavours don't get destroyed in the slow heat. Which means that biting into one is like biting into summer all over again. Which is great, because tomatoes are plentiful in the summer and don't keep for very long.

I like to use these in sauces or soups. But you can squish them between two pieces of bread and have a very decadent sandwich.

Slow roasted tomatoes

Ingredients

• 24 Roma tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Try to find the ripest Roma tomatoes you can. They're the oval ones that Italian grandmothers make into tomato gravy because they have a good solids-to-liquids ratio. You are going to make something equally delicious. So pick through the tomatoes to find the best ones.
2. When you get home, wash them thoroughly.
3. Get a big cookie sheet. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise and arrange them such that they all fit. Don't worry about cramming them in too much, they'll shrivel up and shrink.
4. Splash olive oil freely over the tomatoes. Then season lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Don't put in too much, as the flavours will intensify as the water evaporates.
5. Stick them in the oven and turn the heat on as low as possible. Some people recommend using the pilot light in a gas stove, but I find that it doesn't get dry enough. So I set mine to 90°C.
6. Leave them to roast for about 10 hours or so, rotating the tin about half-way through. You're looking for the tomatoes to shrink and concentrate their flavour. You don't want them drying into leather, you just want them to stop being wet.
7. You should eat one and marvel at how tomatoey it is! It's so savoury, it's almost meaty. That's the umami you're tasting.
8. When they're done, bring them out of the oven and let them cool. You can remove the skins, but I don't bother. Put them into very clean jars and stick them in the refrigerator. They should last about a week or so.

Roast chicken
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

I don't often go to potluck dinners because people don't often host them. But I'm happy to show up with the main course whenever I'm invited.

I had a nice time at le_maistre_e's place last night, even though I could barely catch up with any of the conversation. Instead, I faded in and out of consciousness on the sofa, sipping a mug of after-dinner coffee.

I had brought a roasted chicken, because I was exceptionally lazy. Chicken is one of the easiest roasts and basically takes care of itself if you treat it right. And with this recipe, you will get one of the most fragrant roasted chickens you've ever tasted. The secret is in keeping the chicken moist.

Lemon roasted chicken

Ingredients

• 1 chicken
• 5L water
• 250mL salt
• 250mL sugar
• 50mL dark soya sauce
• 50mL butter, room temperature
• 4 stalks rosemary
• 15mL paprika
• black pepper
• lemon
• 4 carrots
• 1 large red onion
• 1 head of garlic
• 15mL cornflour

Directions

1. Get your chicken and wash it out with cold water. Your chicken is probably trussed up, so get its legs out from under the twine so you can get at the cavity. You will want to wash inside the cavity, getting out as much blood and guts as possible.
2. If there's still a bit of neck attached, twist it off. You may have to bend it back and forth a few times, but soon enough it will snap. Then, remove the wishbone for simple carving.
3. Add the water to a big pot, big enough such that the chicken can fit comfortably inside. Dissolve the salt and sugar in before adding the soya sauce. Dunk the chicken inside so that the liquid gets into the cavity. The whole point of this brining is to moisten the chicken breast. Leave it covered, in the refrigerator, for at least an hour. Two hours is better, overnight is excellent.
4. You can prepare your roasting tin at this point in time. Cut your carrots and red onion into healthy chunks. Peel most of the paper off the head of garlic, but don't break it apart. Arrange your roasting tin so that the garlic is in the centre and the vegetables surround it.
5. Now we can make the butter. Rip the leaves off the rosemary stalks and bruise them a bit with the flat of your knife.
6. In a small bowl, combine the butter, rosemary, and paprika. Add a pinch of salt and a good long grind of black pepper. Grate the zest of your lemon into it and combine.
7. When the chicken is done brining, fish it out and pat it very dry. If it's wet, the butter won't stick.
8. Get your fingers under the skin of the breast and stretch it out. Then, rub some of the butter into the underside of the skin. Rub butter into the cavity, and then massage the rest of the butter all over the chicken. Pamper it!
9. Cut the lemon in half, you only need half of it. Poke a few holes in the skin and then stuff that half into the cavity. This will steam and perfume your chicken from within.
10. If you have a V-shaped roasting rack, then great! Remove the butcher's twine completely and set the rack with the chicken over the vegetables in your tin. If not, get the legs back into the twine and set the bird directly atop the vegetables.
11. Set the tin in a preheated oven at 220°C for about 15 to 20 minutes, so that skin starts to brown. Then, lower the temperature to 200°C for another 15 to 20 minutes per 500g. Longer if your oven lies to you, but you should really invest in an oven thermometer. Do not be tempted to baste the chicken or open the oven door every minute.
12. You can test whether the chicken is done by poking your knife into the thickest part of the meat, where the leg meets the breast. If the juices run clear, it's done. Take it out of the oven and remove the bird to a plate.
13. Using a slotted spoon, take the roasted vegetables out and put them into a serving bowl. Taste them to see if they need salt and pepper, but they probably don't.
14. On to the gravy. Skim the vast majority of the oil out of the roasting tin. Turn your stove on low, set the tin on a burner, and add some chicken stock or water. Applying a wooden spoon to the tin, scrape up as much of the browned bits, the fond, as possible. Ignore the burnt bits. Tip this liquid into a waiting saucepan. Put the saucepan on the heat and bring it up to a simmer. Slowly drizzle a slurry of cornflour and cold water into the gravy, until it comes to the right thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour it out into a gravy boat.
15. By now, your chicken should be properly rested and ready for carving. Bring it, the vegetables, and the gravy to the table with pride.

Serves 6.

Breakfast
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

One of the best things about working from home is being able to brunch every day of the week. Granted, not all of my brunches are magnificient affairs. But some of them are.

Today, I sat on my balcony with a proper English breakfast and enjoyed the sharp air. It's almost autumn and the trees are starting to turn. Plus, you get to watch the squirrels jumping from branch to branch. They're so fat that sometimes they almost miss.

I cribbed this recipe for scrambled eggs from Gordon Ramsay. I thought I knew how to make eggs before, but his method is far superior. There are various versions of it over the Internet, likely copied from his cookery book. But this one is far more clear.

Sublime scrambled eggs

Ingredients

• Four eggs, cold
• 15mL butter, cold
• 15mL crème fraîche
• salt
• pepper
• chives, snipped finely

Directions

1. Get a cold saucepan. Do not turn on the heat yet. I know, it sounds crazy, but trust me.
2. Break the eggs into a the pan and add the butter. Don't whisk or whip it. Trust me.
3. Now turn on a medium-low heat. Using a heat-proof spatula, stir to combine the ingredients. Keep stirring constantly, scrapping the bottom, sides, and corners. What's we're trying to get here is a very fine curd, so we don't want it to cook too quickly.
4. The mixture will start turning a pale yellow, sort of like custard. Take the pan off the heat and continue stirring. When it cools down a bit, put it back on the heat. Whenever the eggs start giving off significant steam, take them off. The idea is to cook them in a controlled manner, so they don't clump together in one big mass.
5. Continue this on-off dance with your pan until the eggs are almost dry. This should take about four minutes. They should be soft and fluffy, slightly lumpy, and not brown at all. Now, take the pan off the heat.
6. Stir the crème fraîche into the eggs. If you don't have any, a dollop of sour cream will work as well. This cools down the eggs to stop them from overcooking. It also makes them nice and creamy.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add the chives for colour. Mix well.
8. Serve immediately. Offer them up with buttered toast, jelly, bacon, sausages, ham, baked beans, fried tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, home fries, and a glass of orange juice. Or simply serve them up, by themselves, with a swirl of sweet chili sauce.

Serves 2.

Basil
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Recently, at parties, I've discovered that I'm one of the least geeky people there. Which is bizarre, because I've basically been geeky all of my life. To address that issue, I had a very nice weekend full of random dorkiness.

On Saturday, I went with angorian and Damian to marché Jean-Talon where we picked up a few things. Like pine nuts, parmesan, and a crate-full of basil. Due to a more innovative washing strategy, we finished making six litres of pesto in six hours. I brought my half back home and am slowly freezing it into ice cubes.

Actually, I still have some pesto left over from last year. Whoops! Better have some people over for dinner, I suppose.

Then on Sunday, I invited a group of friends over to play geeky games. angorian showed up with Damian, and was quickly followed by wlach, cloquewerk, and _watchtower_. We pulled out Munchkin and Chez Geek. I can hear you muttering "comfy" right now, elliptic_curve, and I don't care.

There was a break for dinner, where I pulled out some salsa, tabbouleh, and pizza. I made the pizza dough in advance, so I kept on leaving to check on it, but it seems to have been worth it. Especially after the pizza stone cracked in the oven. Ah well, I've always wanted a thicker one anyway.

You can always order out for pizza, but that doesn't seem to turn out as nicely as I like. By the time it gets to your door, it's been steamed in the cardboard box for a while, so the crust begins to taste like wood. And everything turns a tad soggy. And the toppings aren't exactly what you want. So you might as well make pizza at home. Now, you can buy frozen pizza dough, which is really quite good, but try making pizza from scratch. It's easier than you might think.

Pesto pizza

Ingredients

• 10mL active dry yeast
• 300mL warm water
• 400g Canadian all-purpose white flour
• 15mL salt
• 15mL sugar
• 30mL olive oil
• 15mL basil pesto
• Various toppings

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix the yeast and warm water together. Let it sit for about five minutes, until the yeast is dissolved and the mixture is cloudy. It will start to smell a bit like bread or beer, which is exactly what you want. Don't add the yeast to hot water or you'll kill the little critters.
2. In a large bowl, mix your flour, salt, and sugar with a balloon whisk.
3. Make a deep hole in the centre of your dry ingredients and add the oil, pesto, and yeast mixture. Combine the wet ingredients with a fork and slowly incorporate the flour from the edges.
4. You'll eventually end up a moist ball of dough which should pull itself together. If it's too dry to do that, add a few splashes of warm water. If it's too wet, dust it with some more flour. Eventually, you'll have something moist that you can knead.
5. Scatter some flour evenly on your counter and scrape the dough on to it. Then knead and work the dough until it dries out a bit and becomes smooth and elastic. Don't be afraid of it, you can really get all your aggression out this way.
6. Once the dough is springy, take your large bowl and coat the bottom and sides with olive oil. Transfer your dough to that bowl and roll it around a bit so that it's covered lightly in oil.
7. Cover the bowl with cellophane and leave it in a warm place for it to rise. I typically leave it resting close to the pilot light on my stove. It takes about an hour or two for it to double in volume, so waste some time surfing the Internet.
8. Once it gets big enough, punch the dough down. Cut it in half using a plastic dough scrapper, but you can use a knife if you don't have one. Roll each half into a ball and loosely cover each with cellophane to rise again. This should take about fifteen minutes.
9. You should preheat your oven at about this time. Set it to the highest temperature it will go, as pizza is best when it's baked quickly. If you have a pizza stone, leave it in the oven so it will heat as the oven heats. Putting a cold stone in the oven will guarantee that it explodes from thermal stress. If you don't have a pizza stone, you can use baking sheets.
10. On a floured work surface, stretch one of the dough balls until it's rather thin. But not so thin that it breaks. I find that using a rolling pin helps, but you can also do this by spinning it in the air. After you've got the crust in an approximately pizza shape, we're ready to top it.
11. Get a cutting board that will fit the dough. Rip a piece of parchment paper and put it on top. Then put your dough on top of that. Add a small amount of pizza sauce and your favourite toppings. I like using huge blobs of low-fat mozzarella, because it melts gorgeously and also provides good structural integrity.
12. Slide the whole pizza with the parchment on to your pizza stone. Bake for about fifteen minutes, pulling the parchment paper out from underneath in the last five or so. This should give you a gloriously crispy crust. Bring the pie to the table, cut into wedges, and dig in.
13. Now bake the second pizza, because people will be clamouring for seconds. Optionally, you can freeze that second dough ball, and pull it out for an easy dinner later in the week.

Serves 6.

I was invited to a barbeque on Thursday. Well, not really. I just sort of showed up and helped set up the place for the party. And then just stayed through. I knew a lot of the people who were attending, so I think people were more pleased to see me than upset that I had never been invited. If they even knew.

Since I was crashing a barbeque, I thought I'd bring something to eat. Apparently, grill space was at a premium, so I opted to make a salad instead. Now I could have bought a tub of potato salad or coleslaw from the supermarket, but that seemed a bit uninventive. And my reputation as a cook precedes me, so it'd seem odd for me to bring prepared food.

Instead, I picked up a bag of apples, a bunch of celery and some other things. I made Waldorf salad, which used to show up all over the place, but nobody eats it now. I thought a bit of nostalgia would go well with grilling, and it seems I was right. People remarked that they hadn't had Waldorf salad in years. You should make one, because it's really simple, and because it's a good salad.

Waldorf salad

Ingredients

• 2 stalks celery
• 1 lime
• 3 tart apples
• sugar
• 200g walnuts, toasted
• 100mL mayonnaise
• 15mL whole grain mustard
• salt
• black pepper

Directions

1. Wash the lime and grate the peel off the lime, making sure not to grate in the pith. Then squeeze the juice into a large bowl.
2. Peel your apples and chop them into cubes. Toss them with the lime juice as you do this, so they don't turn brown. I chose Granny Smiths, because they have a good texture and a refreshing tartness.
3. Now, taste the apples. They should be tart, but also sweet. If they're not, sprinkle in a handful of sugar and let it macerate for a while.
4. Wash the celery and chop it into cubes, of approximately the same size. Add it to the bowl.
5. Sprinkle in the walnuts, which can be whole or crumbled. You can toast them earlier to give a nice texture and aroma.
6. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and mustard to make a dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. You want something that has a bit of kick, but not overwhelmingly vinegary.
7. Toss the dressing with the salad in the large bowl, and store in the refrigerator for an hour before serving. When you pull it out, serve it immediately because mayonnaise has a tendency to spoil at room temperature. The classic method of serving it is to mound the salad atop a bed of lettuce.

Serves 6.

Here's a good summery pudding that I served at last night's dinner party. Yes, I know it isn't summer yet, but one can't always be patient.

Sadly, my freezer wasn't cold enough to do a good job, so this semifreddo really was just semi-cold. Plus, it melts quickly on the plate, so you have to serve it promptly. However, its velvety texture and gorgeous yellow seemed to win people over.

I got the recipe from Nigella Lawson and have only introduced a pinch of salt to hike up the flavour. You really don't have to mess with such a good thing! It's ridiculously fast and simple to make and lets you enjoy homemade ice cream without any of the churning.

Honey semifreddo
Originally uploaded by fanny_the_fairy.

Honey semifreddo

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 4 egg yolks
• 125 mL honey
• 300 mL whipping cream
• 1 mL salt
• 25 g pine nuts, toasted

Directions

1. Get yourself a 900g loaf tin. You know, one of those big rectangular ones? Line it with clingfilm and leave plenty of extra on the side, so that you can drape it over top.
2. Crack and separate your egg yolks. I find it easiest to do this with two bowls. Crack four eggs into the first bowl and using your hand, carefully scoop out the yolks. Let the egg whites drain through your fingers and deposit the yolk in the second bowl. When you've got four yolks in the second bowl, add the last large egg.
3. Do yourself a favour and get the best honey that you can. You want something that smells of wildflowers and tastes of clover. It's really the only flavouring in this pudding. Measure it out and make sure it's liquid. If it's not, you can heat it gently in the microwave.
4. Put a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Pour your eggs and honey in to the bowl and whisk constantly. It should foam up before turning into a thick, pale-yellow foam.
5. Whisk in a pinch of salt to the mixture and then take it off the heat.
6. In a large bowl, whip your cream until it comes to stiff peaks. You want your cream to be very cold when you start, as this makes the process much easier.
7. Fold the egg mixture into the whipping cream. You don't have to make this very even, swirls in the final product are beautiful.
8. Now scrape it into your lined loaf pan. Thump it on the counter a couple of times to knock out any air bubbles. Then wrap it up with the overhanging film.
9. Stick it in the freezer for a long while. Nigella's recipe claims two to three hours, but you'd be safest to do this overnight.
10. When you're ready to serve, toast your pine nuts in a pan over low heat. Be careful, as they catch easily.
11. Take the pan out of the freezer and unmold onto a plate. Scatter the pine nuts on top of the log and drizzle the whole thing with honey.

Serves 8.

I was being stubborn today and wanted to make 芝麻糊 by hand. So I pounded away at the black sesame seeds over and over again until they were worn into a fine paste. Unfortunately, it was too much strain for the poor marble pestle I was holding. It broke in two.

I was defeated, so we dug out the old family blender and an AC transformer. Although it was old and of a strange design, it worked well enough to turn out a good pudding. This soup is best served hot, perhaps with sweet little 湯圓 floating in it. Although it is just as good served plain.

冰糖黑芝麻糊 (Black sesame soup)

Ingredients

• 100g black sesame seeds
• 1L water
• 30g yellow rock sugar
• 15mL soya sauce
• 45mL corn starch

Directions

1. Wash the sesame seeds and strain them through a sieve. Then, over low heat, toast the sesame until it smells fragrant and sweet.
2. Get out your blender and dump the sesame into it. Add about 250mL of water and start whizzing. You want as fine a purée as you can get, because it is unpleasant to eat something with the consistency of gritty mud. If the mixture starts getting too thick for the blender to handle, add more of the water.
3. Put a saucepan over low heat and combine the rest of the water with the sesame purée and the soya sauce.
4. Dissolve the sugar into the simmering sesame soup. You will want it slightly sweet, without masking the flavour of the sesame.
5. Make a slurry of the cornstarch and some cold water. Stir this slowly into the simmering mixture to thicken the soup until it coats the back of your spoon. Once this happens, cook for another minute before turning off the heat. You may not need all of the cornstarch, so do not add it all at once.

Serves 6.

At a booksale of remaindered books, I picked up a copy of Sybil Kapoor's Taste: a new way to cook. This is a brilliant book that explores how different combinations of tastes excites our mouths.

We now know that there are five different receptors of taste: sour, salty, bitter, sweet, and umami. The last one may be unfamiliar because it's only been a recently recognised taste. Discovered by the Japanese, we have since borrowed the word to describe the taste of free glutamate. Even microscopic amounts of umami are discernable to taste.

Kapoor argues, quite correctly, that a balance of all five flavours makes things taste mind-blowingly good. So for lunch today, I decided to make a very strange pasta sauce. It turned out to be a splendid idea.

A balanced pasta dressing

Ingredients

• 3 basil leaves
• handful parmigiano reggiano
• extra virgin olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• black pepper

Directions

1. Grate a handful of parmesan cheese into a pile of soft rubble. This is the umami component.
2. Cut the basil into a fine chiffonade. Here, we will find some bitter and some fragrance. Dump it into the bottom of a small bowl.
3. Next add a splash of extra virgin olive oil. It should be green and fruity and bitter.
4. Follow this with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, which will add both sour and sweet.
5. Finally, grind in some fresh black pepper for a kick of spice. Combine everything together with a fork.
6. Now cook some stuffed pasta until it's just done and drain it well. Toss the pasta into a wide bowl and shower it generously with the cheese which should melt softly and coat the pasta.
7. Then drizzle the dressing on top and garnish.

Enrobes one generous plate of pasta.

Julie and I used to love cooking together, so here is one of her recipes. These are some of the best fish cakes I have ever tasted and they are still my favourite trashy food. Here is my interpretation of her most excellent dish.

Since it takes about ten minutes to make these things, they’re really good as a quick midnight snack. Even now, I can barely resist the urge to go into the kitchen and fry some up.

But they’re also great as appetizers to fancy dinner parties. Just serve two of them, one leaning against another, on a large funky plate. Drizzle sriracha around them with a squeeze bottle and garnish with a spring of thai basil. I assure you that they will impress.

Fish cakes

Ingredients

• 200g wild sockeye salmon, tinned and packed in water
• 2 shallots
• handful parsley leaves
• 1 large egg
• ½ lime
• 30mL corn meal
• 30mL white flour
• salt
• pepper
• cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Drain the tin of salmon and reserve the liquor for your cat. Pick out the bones from the salmon and eat them, telling no-one. Empty the tin of fish into a mixing bowl. Now that your cat has seen you eating salmon, you might as well put the reserved liquor in a bowl beside his food dish.
2. Peel and finely mince the shallots. Mix them into the salmon.
3. Wash and thoroughly dry the parsley. Use only the leaves, the stems don’t add very much to the texture. Finely chop them and add to the salmon mixture.
4. Crack the egg into the mixing bowl and thoroughly incorporate. It’s fine to break up the chunks of salmon, but try not to paste it.
5. Squeeze the lime half in and add the corn meal and white flour. Stir to combine. The mixture should now be firm enough to form into balls. If not, add more flour and corn meal.
6. Add salt and fresh black pepper to taste. Add cayenne for a little kick of heat.
7. In a cast-iron frying pan, heat a centimetre of oil over medium-high heat. When you drop in a piece of shallot, it should sizzle and fry.
8. Here’s the fun part. Take a rounded tablespoonful of the fish mixture and form it into a rough ball. Place it into the fat and press it down with your spatula until it is a cake that’s about two centimetres thick. Keep on doing this until your pan is full.
9. Starting from your first cake, flip over to the other side. The top should now be a nice golden brown. By the time you finish flipping all the cakes, your first one should be done. Remove to a stack of paper towels and let your cakes drain.

Makes 6 to 8 fish cakes.

The pan-frying really makes these cakes great. You can see the fish flecked with the corn meal and the outside crunches while the interior is moist and tender. And if you are quick, you will get a nice golden exterior.

Instead of the more traditional tartar sauce, I eat these with sriracha, that ubiquitous condiment you see at Vietnamese noodle houses. Its sweet chili flavour marries perfectly with the fatty salmon.

The pretentious among you will wonder if using fresh salmon instead of tinned would be better. To you, I say, why would you waste fresh salmon on trashy finger-food like this?

I've fallen head over heels with Nigella Lawson's fairy cake recipe. Peter Zion once brought them to a dinner party and they were absolutely fabulous. What I didn't know was how beautiful they were fresh out of the oven.

They are soft, light, and buttery. Interestingly enough, although the recipe originally calls for self-rising flour, using Canadian all-purpose flour works perfectly well here; the cupcakes aren't heavy at all. I wonder if they turn out even better when using cake flour? I think an experiment is in order. Do I have any volunteers?

Nigella punts on the frosting by recommending the use of instant royal icing. But royal icing is no fun to eat, so here is a quick cooked icing instead. We've also eaten these plain, and they are still delectable.

Oh yes, this recipe is entirely unhealthful. It's chock full of things like white sugar and white flour and more white sugar, which makes it absolutely sinful. But cupcakes are childishly innocent, so how could this be wrong? Just promise me you won't eat one every day, all right?

Fairy cakes

Ingredients

• 125g unsalted butter, soft
• 125g white granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 125g white all-purpose flour
• 3g baking powder
• 5mL vanilla extract
• 45mL milk

• 60mL unsalted butter
• 45mL fruit purée
• 2mL salt
• 5mL vanilla extract
• 500mL icing sugar, sifted if lumpy

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C.
2. Get out your food processor, which makes this recipe simple and easy. Making this by hand is quite a bit more time consuming.
3. Cube your room-temperature butter and throw that in the processor. Add the sugar, the eggs, flour, baking powder, and vanilla as well. Then blitz until smooth.
4. Once that's done, slowly add in the milk while pulsing the mixture. The batter should form a soft, dropping consistency. It will smell pretty good now, and you will be tempted to eat a spoonful. Don't, because there isn't much extra batter. OK, you can have a small taste.
5. Get your muffin-tin out and put a muffin paper in each hole. Spoon and scrape the mixture evenly into each paper. You'll be able to fill twelve of them, stingily. Don't worry that there's only a little bit of batter in each cup, they'll puff up in the oven.
6. Put the tin in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are just golden. You don't want the papers to burn on the bottom, so do be careful.
7. Take them out to cool on the muffin rack for about half an hour. Meanwhile, you can start on the frosting.
8. Get yourself some colourful fruit. I bought some raspberries and pressed the juice out of them with a spoon and a sieve. I did this to remove the seeds because they wouldn't be very pleasant in the icing.
9. In the top of a double-broiler, melt the butter. You can also do this over a low flame.
10. Once it's melted, remove the butter from the heat and stir in fruit purée, the salt, the vanilla and the icing sugar.
11. Place this back on the heat and use a whisk to work all the lumps out. As it gets hotter, the icing becomes less viscous, so you can control how spreadable it is. Don't let it boil, or it will start to harden on you.
12. Once your cupcakes are cool, you have a choice. You can choose to leave them swollen and proud, in which case your frosting should be cooled to a spreadable consistency. You can also flatten their tops off with a knife, in which case you want to pour hot frosting into the muffin cups.
13. While the frosting is still warm, decorate each cupcake. I put a glace cherry on the top of each, but you can put on sugar roses or chocolate buttons.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

These keep in the refrigerator for two or three days, just reheat them in the toaster oven. But I can never help myself when they come fresh out of the oven, so I can't imagine how you'd have leftovers.

So yesterday, I was making a batch of red pepper pesto with angorian. I had these wonderfully large, red bell peppers that I was working with. I seeded them, tossed them into the food processor, and blitzed them together with mint. Then I looked inside and realised it was really watery, so I strained out the excess liquid and continued working. It turned out really well.

As I was cleaning up, I saw this ruby red liquid sitting in a bowl all by itself. I wondered to myself, "Self, I wonder if this tastes any good." So I poured it into a glass and took a swig.

Wow! Now I know what it feels like to discover that something which looks sketchy actually taste amazing. I went over to Damian and said, "You have to try this pepper-mint juice." (I'm sorry, I can't resist a pun like that.) He made a strange face and exclaimed, "Peppermint juice?" We convinced him to try it, and he took a tentative sip. "Not bad," he nodded, which compelled Angorian to try some too. We were all very pleased with my newfound fruit juice.

We think it would be a great summer drink, at a picnic or something. It might even be good as part of a cocktail. Anyway, here is the recipe so you can try it too. You can probably keep this in the fridge for about a week. Although I used a food processor, using a juice-extractor is probably a lot easier. You might want to scale back on the mint, if you do, because I have no idea how effective juice-extractors are.

Pepper-mint juice

Ingredients

• 8 large red bell peppers
• 100mL fresh mint leaves, packed

Directions

1. Find some very large, very ripe, red bell peppers. The sweet kind, not the spicy kind. Wash them, and then trim off any bruises before seeding them. You'll also want to remove the membraines inside the peppers. Throw the cleaned peppers into the food processor and purée them. You should end up with about eight cups.
2. Take your mint leaves, wash them and dry them. Then, throw those into the food processor as well, and blitz.
3. Let this mixture sit for a while, about an hour or so, for the mint to leech into the liquid.
4. Then, strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Use a ladle to press a good amount of liquid out of it. Reserve the solids to make red pepper pesto.
5. Taste the liquid. If it's too strong, add a little water. If it's not sweet enough, because the peppers are not completely ripe, add sugar to taste.

Makes about 1 litre. Shake before serving.

This is a fun recipe to make for people. Typically, stuffed bell peppers are made with meat, but that's actually not as good as the vegetarian version. This recipe is something that is filling without being heavy. And it has a fairly good balance of flavours.

You'll want to find the biggest, most stable, bell peppers you can. The idea is to have them stand on end, not lie flat on their sides. It makes for fun packages to open and eat. I suppose you could also use yellow, orange, or green peppers; red seems to come out the nicest, though.

This recipe is not particularly spicy, but you could change that by jacking up the amount of cayenne pepper. Also, adding lime juice and black olives would make it more interesting, I should think.

Stuffed bell peppers

Ingredients

• 250mL jasmine rice
• 5 large red bell peppers
• 15 white button mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 3 carrots, diced finely
• 125mL pine nuts, toasted
• 10 chives, chopped coarsely
• 15mL tomato paste
• bread crumbs
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1mL cayenne pepper
• 5mL salt
• 5mL black pepper

Directions

1. Cook your cup of rice, according to package directions. After it's done, set it off the heat and let it cool completely. You want the grains to firm up.
2. Set aside one bell pepper. As for the other four, make sure that they are large and stand up by themselves. Take the tops off with the stem intact. Pull out the seeds and scrape out the membrane with a spoon. Wash both tops and bottoms in cold water.
3. Steam the peppers for ten minutes and remove from the heat. You'll probably have to drain the water that's collected inside them.
4. Take that extra red pepper and dice it finely. Now is also a good time to mince, mince, dice, toast, and chop the garlic, shallots, carrots, nuts, and chives. Respectively.
5. Get a big skillet or wok, and put it on medium-high heat. When the pan is good and hot, add a good tablespoon of oil. Throw in the shallots, garlic, and carrots. Fry until they start getting aromatic.
6. Once that has happened, add the diced red pepper and mushrooms. Keep everything moving in the pan. You should see the mushrooms start to brown and weep. This is fine, as water is cooking out of them. Once the mushrooms look like they won't shrink any more, turn down the heat to medium.
7. Add the tomato paste, mixing it in with what juice is left in the pan. Then add the cold, cooked rice; which should be about 400mL or so. Mix the whole thing around until the rice is evenly covered and everything is hot.
8. Mix in the chives and remove from the heat.
9. Taste for seasoning now. You'll want to add the cayenne, for a little bit of kick. Salt and pepper would be good too.
10. Now, stand each pepper bottom on end and spoon the rice mixture into them. You can pack it in a bit, but don't stuff it in or the pepper might break.
11. Top each pepper with some breadcrumbs and sprinkle the top with olive oil. Then, arrange each bottom on a baking sheet and put them under the broiler until the crumb topping is golden brown.
12. Just before serving, cap each pepper bottom with its corresponding top, as a lid. This forms a nice garnish, as the whole pepper gets to arrive at the table.

Serves 4 people.

Simon with basil
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Pesto is just divine. Correspondingly, it is very expensive at the grocery store. But this is silly, because pesto is very cheap to make at the height of summer. This is because basil is a hearty plant and grows like a weed. I have a basil plant in my windowsill that has survived two owners, for three years, across four droughts, and through five moves.

You should go to your local farmer's market, and find a stall that sells fresh herbs. Haggle with the vendor until he sells you a grocery bag full of basil at a discount. Then, take this home greedily, all while smiling to the people who stare at your forest of basil. Let them smell its wonderful fragrance and tell them you're going home to make pesto.

The recipe I have below is not a very exact one. I've given some measurements, but they're really more guidelines than they are proven. Normally, I start off with this as a basis, and keep on adding things until it tastes really good.

I suppose you could do this with basil leaves from the grocery store. I'm guessing that a bag of basil translates into four cups of packed leaves. But I've never measured it that way before, so let me know if you try this. Be warned, fresh herbs from the grocery store are ludicrously expensive. I blame yuppies.

Last summer, I brought home three grocery bags full of basil. Even though it's starting to get cold, I think that this weekend, I'll go back to the market and pick up another because it's just so good to have around in the winter. After you finish with it, put it in small plastic containers and stick them in your freezer. Then, when it's dark and gloomy outside, add it to penne or ravioli as a sauce; spread it on fresh bread, and make glowing open-faced sandwiches; or whisk it into hearty homemade soups. I guarantee it will put a smile on your face.

Pesto

Ingredients

• 500mL basil leaves, packed (a big bunch of basil, about 10 plants worth)
• 125mL pine nuts
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 125mL parmigiano reggiano cheese, optional
• 100mL extra virgin olive oil
• 5mL salt
• 10mL black pepper

Directions

1. Pick off the leaves of basil and discard the stalks. Basil is pretty sandy, so you'll have to wash it well. Do this by keeping two large pots of water. Put the leaves in one, swirl it around, and scoop out the basil into the second pot. The sand will have settled to the bottom of the first pot of water, so dump it out, wash it, and fill it with fresh water. Repeat until you no longer find sand settled in the pots.
2. Toast your pine nuts in a small skillet over low heat. Keep an eye on them, because they burn easily. You can skip the toasting, but it adds a wonderful aroma to the sauce. You can also substitute cashews for pine nuts, as they are cheaper. Or use almonds, which add a unique flavour.
3. Peel your garlic. Smashing it is the easiest way. Then fry the cloves lightly until they start to smell good. This gets rid of any acridness.
4. Get out your food processor. Don't try using a blender because you'll burn out the motor (which I have done). You could also do this by hand, in a mortar and pestle, but that is more an expression of love than it is of cookery.
5. Into your food processor, add the nuts and garlic. Then grate in the cheese, which you can leave out if you're vegan. Add a generous splash olive oil to the mixture.
6. Start the machine. It should make short work of the hard stuff, which should start forming a coarse meal.
7. Add handfuls of the basil at a time, which should grind up to form a bright green paste. When it starts getting really thick, add more olive oil. By the end, you should have something that has the viscocity of mayonnaise. It probably won't be very smooth, because of those pine nuts, but a bit of texture is delicious.
8. Stop the food processor and add the salt and pepper. Run the machine again for a while, and then taste it. You may have to add more salt to bring out the flavour of the basil. Or less if you're substituting with a saltier cheese.

Makes 3 cups of pesto.

It's really difficult to resist well-fried food. Where there's this crispy, delicious batter surrounding something tender and wonderful in the centre. No hint of grease, no unseemly fat; just crunchy flavourful goodness.

Whether you are dreaming of cod, tempura, tofu, or a candy bar; frying is the best. I think fried chicken is second-to-none for picnic food. It's self-contained, portable, and works well hot or cold. There's something about gnawing on a chicken bone that's so very satisfying.

This recipe comes from several sources. It came first from Jim's cookbook from when he and I lived in Village 3. Then, it was modified with some inspiration from Nigella Lawson. It was Nigella that introduced me to the poaching step, which I find makes the chicken incredibly tender and thoroughly cooked.

Don't be afraid of the hot oil in this recipe. The worst that can happen is that you will knock the hot oil off the stove, splashing yourself in the face (disfiguring it permanently), blinding yourself, and having it catch on fire, whereby you turn into a human torch. But most of the time, you'll just get delicious food.

Fried chicken

Ingredients

• 6 chicken legs
• 5mL salt
• 10 dried cloves
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• milk

• 250mL all-purpose white flour
• 2 large eggs
• 250mL breadcrumbs
• 15mL cayenne pepper
• 15mL paprika
• 10mL salt
• 15mL black pepper
• 30mL dried basil
• vegetable oil
• small onion

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, arrange your chicken pieces so they all fit. I like to use chicken legs, because there are drumsticks to hold on to.
2. Add the salt, cloves, and minced garlic, and then cover the chicken with milk.
3. Poach the chicken gently for about 10 minutes. The milk will curdle a bit, and the mixture might look a bit weird, but this is normal.
4. While this happening, you'll want to set up your breading station. Get three wide tins or bowls. In the first, dump in the flour. In the second, beat the eggs. In the third, put in the breadcrumbs.
5. In each of the tins, put in a third of each seasoning: cayenne, paprika, salt, pepper, and basil. The goal of this is to have all parts of the breading seasoned.
6. I like to shallow fry, so this is what I do. I get my big cast-iron skillet and fill it with three to four centimetres of fresh vegetable oil. Then I chunk up a small onion, and toss that in. I cover the pan with a lid and heat on medium-high, until the onion starts to sizzle.
7. Here's the messy (and arguably fun) part. Take a chicken leg out of the milk and shake off the excess liquid. Put it in the flour mixture, coat it lightly, and shake off the excess. Put it in the egg, roll it around, and shake off the excess. Put it in the breadcrumbs, get it coated well, and (you got it) shake off the excess.
8. Place the end of the leg into the oil, and let it fall away from you. That way, if it splashes, you won't get your shirt dirty. The oil should come a little over halfway up the side of the chicken.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each leg of chicken.
10. Once you've done that, the first piece is probably browned already. Take a pair of tongs and peek underneath it. If it's a nice golden colour, flip it over. It should take another minute or two, before the other side is browned.
11. Get a plate ready, and line it with two or three sheets of paper towel. When the chicken is done, remove it to this plate, and sprinkle lightly with salt. Just before serving the chicken, remove the paper towel, which will likely be quite greasy.
12. Let the oil cool and then discard it in a tin can that you can seal up. Pouring it down the sink may cause nasty clogs.

Serves 6 picnickers.

Summer's always been a time to enjoy fresh local produce. I encourage you to go to your local farmer's market and pick some up. No, I mean literally. Pick it up, handle it, smell it. Make sure that it's good even if it looks a little misshapen. Ask for taste samples. Buy what you like. It's cheap at this time of year and very very fresh.

Gazpacho soup is a product of typical peasant frugality and that's why it tastes so good. If you only have simple ingredients, you have to find ways to combine it palatably. Granted, Spanish peasants didn't have access to blenders or food processors, which is why gazpacho used to be a more rustic soup than its modern incarnation. I've tried both and I prefer the puréed version.

Try to use vegetables when they are at their most ripe. Don't feel compelled to go buy all the ingredients for this soup at once. Maybe you have carrots and celery in the fridge that you have to use up; throw them in. Maybe you have an avocado which which you are unable to find a use; toss it in. (Minus the skin and pit, of course.) Be creative and keep on tasting it to make sure it's turning out all right.

This is the skeleton recipe I've refined:

Gazpacho

Ingredients

• 10 plum tomatoes, peeled and seeded
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted
• 1 yellow bell pepper, roasted
• 3 green onions
• ½ english cucumber, peeled and seeded
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 sweet carrots
• ½ Spanish onion
• 1 lime, peeled
• 5 cloves garlic, toasted
• 50mL fresh coriander
• 100mL fresh basil
• 30mL extra-virgin olive oil
• 100mL vegetable stock
• 5mL salt
• 10mL black pepper
• 10mL paprika
• 10mL balsamic vinegar

Preparation

1. You want to wash, blanch, roast, peel, and seed your vegetables ahead of time. Since gazpacho soup is served cold and raw, do make sure to wash things in clean water and avoid food past its prime.
2. Core out the red and yellow bell peppers. Reserve half of each pepper, and chop the rest coarsely. Throw into a food processor or blender.
3. Add the tomatoes and purée until the mixture is fine. Pour it into a large mixing bowl.
4. Chop the whites off the green onions and throw those in the blender, reserve the greens.
5. Chop the cucumber and purée. You will probably want to add some of the liquid from the bowl to help the machine. Pour out the mixture into the large bowl.
6. Do the same for the celery, carrots, onion, lime, garlic, coriander, and basil. I highly recommend processing it in batches, unless you have one of those immersion blenders that you use with a large bucket.
7. The mixing bowl should now contain a thick vegetable purée. You can now add the olive oil and stir it together. If it is very thick, add a little bit of stock. The soup should not be runny.
8. Season with salt, black pepper, paprika, and vinegar. Taste it now and if there isn't enough tartness, add some lime juice. If it isn't sweet enough, then add more balsamic vinegar.
9. Now, dice the leftover bell peppers and green onion as fine as you possibly can. Take these and stir them into the soup for a little bit of texture. You can make it more rustic, and subsequently more authentic, by blending fewer things and doing more chopping.
10. Let it rest in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. When you serve it, swirl some extra-virgin oil over top, and garnish with a sprig of parsley.

Serves 6 to 8 people.

Gazpacho should be consumed within the day it's made. I've found that, left overnight, it acquires a bitterness from the onion and the coriander. You may amortise this by leaving out the coriander and soaking the onion in water before blending it in.

I've woken up on a couch at Tim's place. The social was a great success! We consumed a ridiculous amount of strawberries and people kept on bringing more as the night wore on. Actually, it's kind of worrying how many leftovers there are. The fridge is still completely full, and there's a large sinkful of strawberries, ice, and dishes.

Let's back up a bit. After a while of sitting outside, I decided to try Tim's door again. I knocked, and this time the door was unlocked. Tim and I decided to go out shopping, so we made a run to the Kitchener Farmer's market. They've moved it and it's a very nice place. It's bright and airy, the place smells good, and families were there doing some shopping. One food court place called Casa Salsa served me some very tasty molé; I was pleasantly surprised. After purchasing a full load of goods, we took the taxi back and I started cooking.

The food I made went over very well. There was a propane grill at this event, so I roasted a spatchcocked chicken stuffed with dill and chevre. I also baked two strawberry rhubarb pies, served with fresh whipped cream, that seemed to go over quite marvellously. I note that kat_feed's homemade strawberry ice-cream was simply divine.

Here is a recipe for a some very tasty pie. I recommend using handpicked strawberries that are sweet with sun, and farm-fresh rhubarb that's crisp and red. Strangely enough, that stuff is probably cheaper than whatever you'd get in the supermarket.

Strawberry rhubarb pie

Ingredients

• 300mL Canadian all-purpose flour
• 1mL salt
• 50mL unsalted butter
• 50mL vegetable shortening
• 15mL lemon juice
• 45–70mL ice water

• 1L rhubarb, chopped
• 500mL strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 250mL sugar
• 45mL cornstarch
• 2mL cinnamon
• 1mL ground ginger
• 1mL salt

• 150mL Canadian all-purpose flour
• 125mL sugar
• 1mL nutmeg
• 50mL unsalted butter, melted

Preparation

1. For the crust, use a whisk to combine the flour with the salt. The crust must stay cold, so please try to handle it as little as possible.
2. Using a pastry knife, cut in cubes of the butter and the shortening until the mixture is an even crumble. Make sure the butter and shortening are very cold. Stick them in the freezer if you must.
3. Add the lemon juice and ice water and incorporate until the dough just sticks together. Do not knead!
4. Shape the dough into a rough disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. I stuck mine in the freezer and kept an eye on it.
5. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
6. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to fit a 23cm pie tin.
7. Line the tin with the pastry, trim and crimp the edges. Put it back in the refrigerator.
8. For the filling, toss the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, cornstarch, spices, and salt. You will probably need a very large mixing bowl for this.
9. Once coated, line the pie shell with the fruit.
10. For the crumble topping, whisk together the flour, sugar, nutmeg, and salt.
11. Rub in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly.
12. Sprinkle this mixture over the fruit pie.
13. Bake the pie on a cookie tray at 200°C for 20 minutes. It might overflow a bit, so the cookie tray is there to catch spills.
14. Reduce the heat to 180°C and bake until the filling bubbles, which takes about 40 minutes.

Serves 8 to 10 people. Makes one 23cm (9in) pie.

I was inspired by chicken cordon bleu for this dish, but was unable to will myself to do any breading. I found that the chicken does quite well without it, so that's just one more excuse not to bread anything. Perhaps a light sprinkling of cornstarch might be nice, so I'll try that next time.

Chicken with ham and cheese

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• 5mL soya sauce
• 1mL sesame oil
• 4 slices prosciutto
• 100mL swiss cheese, grated
• 1 spring rosemary leaves, chopped

Preparation

1. Clean the chicken breasts and remove the skin and the supremes. Remove the breast-bone.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the soya sauce and the sesame oil. Let the chicken marinate in the mixture for about five minutes.
3. Remove the chicken and remove excess marinade. Then slit a pocket in each breast.
4. Stuff each breast with some rosemary, then a slice of prosciutto, then some cheese.
5. In a medium-hot skillet, put in some oil. Then arrange the chicken breasts in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
6. Place the skillet in the oven, underneath the broiler. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serves 4 people.

Here is another recipe that I like to make. Chili is an old standby of mine, because you can make large, generous batches of it that are good for weeks. When you're a student with no time to cook, this can be a blessing for both your tastebuds and your pocketbook. And when you're a busy professional, you just throw all the ingredients in a crockpot and come home to something that smells wonderful.

This particular recipe is a little finicky and requires attention but all food made lovingly does. I served this at Tim's potlatch party and it seemed to be very well received. The nice thing about chili is that you can get it to taste good even without the meat, which is good since many vegetarians were in attendance.

I must confess that I didn't come up with any of the secret ingredients that makes this chili hearty. Julie taught me to toss in cinnamon and chipotle peppers. I have fond memories of her and I standing in front of Mouse's stove, as she tended to her chili. And the Mexicans gave me the idea to toss in some chocolate. After all, I did have some Valrhona at hand. It tasted shockingly good.

At this particular party, I couldn't use any garlic or onions. But this recipe tasted fine without them since I added more carrots to increase the sweetness. Oh yes, the garam masala is not a traditional ingredient at all, but I couldn't find any coriander seeds so this was a good substitute.

You can find my original recipe on Wikipes, which is also vegan-friendly. You'll find that I've included a variation for people who like meat.

I've purposefully kept down the spice level so that you can taste the flavour that the peppers impart. If you are feeling particularly macho, or if you come from a culture that has a high heat tolerance, feel free to add habaneros and jalapenos to taste.

Chili con chocolate

Ingredients

• 400mL tin red kidney beans
• 400mL tin black beans
• 400mL tin pinto beans
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
• 4 medium sweet carrots
• 3 tablespoons soya sauce
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 800mL tins plum tomatoes
• 10 sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 150mL tomato paste
• 2 green peppers, diced
• 2 yellow peppers, diced
• 5 chipotle peppers, packed in adobo sauce
• 100g dark unsweetened chocolate, chopped

Preparation

1. Rinse the beans in fresh water until the water runs clear. Leave them to drain in a colander.
2. In a thick-bottomed pot over medium heat, gently toast the cumin, coriander seed, and cinnamon until they are fragrant.
3. Add the carrots to the pot and then the soya sauce. Give the pot a good stir and let the ingredients brown a bit.
4. Once the ingredients are slightly brown, add the bay leaves and then the tinned tomatoes with the juice. Break up the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.
5. Add the sundried tomatoes and the tomato paste. Now the chili should be rather thick.
6. Mix in the green and yellow peppers. Add the drained beans.
7. Let this simmer slowly on the stove for about 20 minutes.
8. Mince the chipotle peppers and add them to the pot. Also throw in a tablespoon on adobo sauce for good measure.
9. Finally, add the chocolate and stir it in until it incorporates.
10. Simmer for another 10 minutes or so.
11. Fish out the bay leaves.

Serves 8 to 10 people.

My good friend Jeff is a vegan, and every time I have an event that needs truly vegan recipes, I ask him for help. So this weekend, where there was the chance that somone vegan might show up, I hopped onto IRC and made him transcribe the brownie recipe stuck to his fridge.

It's a very nice recipe to look at. Not just because it's quite tasty, but also because the scribing and the paper is very good too. I think it was a gift, and it's a very pretty thing. Anyway, the recipe is a variation on Rachel's Amazing Brownies a.k.a. "no way these are vegan".

I've fiddled with the ingredients, as all cooks are wont to do, but they work out marvellously. Chocolately, moist, and fluffy. At least, that's what I heard from the people who were busy devouring them.

Addendum: I recently made these brownies, but with a different type of firm tofu. Unfortunately, they did not set properly at all and came out undone in the middle and overdone on the edges. So you will have to experiment, I think, to get the right outcome.

Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 cup firm tofu
• 1¼ cup soy milk
• 3 tablespoons fruit jam
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups brown sugar
• 1½ cups dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 150g chocolate chunks

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In a blender, purée the tofu and soy milk until smooth. Try to get the freshest tofu you can, so it doesn't smell funny. Also, try to get soy milk that actually resembles milk for this recipe, I find that So Nice worked really well.
3. Add the jam, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and brown sugar to the blender and mix. I chose raspberry jam, which works really well with chocolate. As for the vegetable oil, get something flavourless like canola or corn oil.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooca, flour, baking powder and salt with a whisk. I'd like to emphasise that you should get real chocolate here, 100% unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder is called for. Trust me.
5. In a third bowl, mix the wet ingredients with the chocolate chunks. Just take a bar of chocolate and roughly chop it with a knife. Mmmm... Valrhona. You can cheat here a bit and use a lesser chocolate.
6. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients with the wet. It should come to a fairly stiff dough that can still be worked with a spatula. If there are still dry spots, add a little more soy milk.
7. Grease and flour a 20cm × 20cm baking tin. Scrape the brownie mix into the pan and spread it to the edges. Bake for 30 minutes in the middle rack until it is no longer gooey. You can test for doneness by sticking a toothpick into the thickest part and checking that it comes out mostly clean. The brownies will cook a little longer as they cool on a cooling rack, although I just served mine hot out of the oven.

Makes about 25 brownies.

Tirimisù
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.

Dinner at Allison and Damian's place on Monday was awesome. Peter Zion was a sparkling guest. All had a good time, as usual.

We had fondant cupcakes, spinach and ricotta ravioli, and tirimisù for dinner. I learnt that I absolutely must make Nigella's cupcake recipe because it is divine. And that I haven't made pasta in a long time, and that I really should. But the thing I remember the most is doing early morning cooking.

Some of my favourite cooking stores come from cooking I would do when living with Jim in Village 3. I'd bake cookies at 3am, or make fresh pasta and have drunks stumble in the door, or that one time where a cupcake mysterious appeared.

This dessert was started at 1:30 on Monday morning. It was inspired by the recipe in The Joy of Cooking.

Tirimisù

Ingredients

• 100mL espresso
• 3 tablespoons rum
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 16 to 24 ladyfingers biscuits
• 5 egg yolks, large
• ½ cup white sugar
• 125mL fortified wine
• 125mL whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 450g marscapone cheese, softened
• block of dark chocolate

Directions

1. Begin by pulling the espresso. You don't really need good espresso for this, but do try to avoid the instant stuff.
2. In a shallow pan, add the rum (I chose Appleton) and two tablespoons of white sugar. Mix the hot espresso into this and set aside to cool.
3. Take a metal bowl and cream together the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar. Then whisk in the wine. I chose to use Lillet for a nice orange hint, but you can use something else. You can shave in orange zest for an extra kick of flavour.
4. Get a small pot and put some water in it. Bring it to a simmer and put the bowl of egg mixture atop. Continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture coats the back of your spoon. Take it off the heat.
5. Whisk the softened cheese into the egg mixture.
6. In another bowl, whisk the vanilla and cream until the form soft peaks.
7. Fold the whipped cream into the egg mixture. You don't have to completely incorporate it, it's fine to be streaky.
8. Get a nice glass serving bowl. Use half of the biscuits to line the bottom of the bowl, dipping each one briefly in the espresso mixture before you do. Try to leave as little space between the biscuits as possible.
9. Spread half the egg mixture evenly over the biscuits.
10. Grate, using a microplane, an even layer of chocolate into the bowl. I prefer using the darkest, most bitter chocolate possible, because this dessert is quite sweet.
11. Dip and arrange the rest of the biscuits. Then spread on the rest of the egg mixture. Then add another layer of grated chocolate.
12. Cool and refridgerate overnight before serving.

Makes 8 very large portions.