For as long as I can remember, I have detested store-bought mayonnaise. It doesn’t matter the brand, the very sight of that off-white, jiggly stuff in a jar (or worse … squeeze bottle) is enough to make my stomach turn.

While I am generally a card-carrying member of the condiments appreciation club, I cannot do store-bought mayonnaise. Sorry.

This aversion to mayo unfortunately extended to the real thing as well. While I have tonnes of cookbooks that feature mayo recipes and while I have thumbed through many a magazine article extolling the virtues of making your own mayo, I have never even batted an eye.

Until Paris. And Alice Waters‘ In the Green Kitchen.

While in Paris, without even realizing it, I enjoyed a sandwich on some crusty french bread that had been slathered with mayo. “What is this glorious sauce?”, I thought.

Mayonnaise. Homemade.

And then not too long ago I was perusing the heart (and stomach) nourishing In The Green Kitchen and I came across a recipe for Garlic Mayonnaise and I experienced the most urgent desire to make mayonnaise.

If you aren’t familiar with In the Green Kitchen, you should become so quickly. What a beautiful book! When I say it’s “heart-nourishing” I mean it has a quality that strikes the heart right through the stomach. It is a deep and lovely affirmation of simple cooking.

It has all the hallmarks of an Alice Waters book: fresh ingredients, responsible cooking, local food, ambitious but never inaccessible and most of all, delicious.

The book is a gentle stroll from making a beautiful salad all the way to cobbler, with stops at biscuits, peperonata and roast leg of lamb.

As for me and my homemade mayonnaise, well, it was a revelation.

It was creamy and lemony and luscious. I spread it on anything that wasn’t nailed down.

I ate it all up.

Ciao!

If you’re interested in making mayonnaise at home, consider these recipes:
Aioli, Lemon-Dijon Mayonnaise and Olive Oil Mayonnaise.

Just a reminder that it’s the 27 of the month, which means it’s the Daring Bakers’ reveal day for July! As you can see I have nothing to reveal … my DB challenge is a bit late. But don’t miss out on what all the other great Daring Bakers did!

Ciao!

This is a very quick Magazine Mondays post. But it’s a goodie! If you’re like me and have a tonne of jam jars in the fridge, all half full, this is the perfect recipe: Jam Crumb Cake from the December 2007 issue of Bon Appétit.

I think it takes a total of 15 minutes to pull this cake together and the results are irresistible: a buttery and sweet treat that’s perfect for afternoon tea or coffee.

Remember, if you have a magazine recipe that you’ve posted on your blog, send me the link and and I’ll include it in my next Magazine Mondays post.

Here’s who’s joining me this week:

Valerie of Sex, Food, and Rock & Roll made Sloppy Joe on Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits from the September 2004 issue of Gourmet.

Margaret of Tea and Scones made Indian Chicken Curry from an old issue of Cooking Light and Seafood Fettuccine from Cooking Light.

Brenda of Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen made Puffed-Rice Bars with Peanut Butter and Chocolate from the July/August 2010 issue of Everyday Food.

Recipe Sleuth made Piri-Piri Chicken from the July 2010 issue of Bon Appétit; Grilled Steak and Summer Vegetable Salad from the July/August issue of Everyday Food; and Green Beans and Zucchini with Sauce Verte from the June 2010 issue of Bon Appétit.

Janet of the taste space made Muhammara (Syrian Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip) from the December 1993 issue of Gourmet; Orzo Salad with Pan-Fried Chickpeas, Dill and Lemon from the August 2002 issue of Cooking Light; and Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon from the June 1997 issue of Bon Appétit.

Lynn of I’ll Have What She’s Having made Summer Vegetable Casserole from the August 2010 issue of Food & Wine.

Tia of Buttercream Barbie made Tomato Quiche from Taste of Home.

Tina of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor made BLT Bread Salad from Cooking Light.

WI from Wine Imbiber made Upside-Down Berry Cornmeal Cake from Better Homes and Gardens.

Have a great week, everyone!

Ciao!

It is, perhaps, the greatest slap in the face of all.

Just as Summer presents you with a dazzling array of berries and fruits, all of them inspiration for your deepest baking desires, Summer also slaps you in the face with heat and humidity.

The very idea of turning the stove on makes me shudder and that’s saying a lot for a committed home baker such as myself.

It’s just not fair.

For a solid two weeks now, to step outside your front door is to be immediately met with a muggy, heavy, moist and stifling Summer kiss. Shudder.

Central air-conditioning be damned. We live in a small, older home and even with central air, as soon as you turn that oven on, our house is a sauna.

So for two weeks, I have been freezing berries like a madwoman, all the while fuming.

Every single time I hear someone say how much they love the Summer and the heat, I’m pretty much casting eye daggers their way.

What is the point of Summer if you cannot bake and use all the beautiful fruits and vegetables around you?

Sitting and stewing has led to many elaborate revenge fantasies. While I’m still working on that machine that will allow us to skip straight from Spring to Fall, I have settled on something a bit more realistic.

Vichyssoise. Zucchini vichyssoise, to be exact.

I was initiatied into the vichyssoise club several years ago during a leisurely lunch at the home of a family friend. It was a hot (of course) summer day and after the appetizers were cleared away, our hostess pulled out a tall, glass jug from the refrigerator.

The jug appeared to be filled with a thick cream, but I soon discovered that it was a cold potato and leek soup known as vichyssoise. Just before serving, our hostess mixed in a healthy dose of cream and then poured the soup into pretty litle cups.

As I had my first taste of vichyssoise I remember thinking, “This is gold. This must become a part of my life on a regular basis.”

Vichyssoise is very easy to make. Cook down some leeks (or onions) and potatoes with chicken stock. Once it’s all cooked, season to taste and then puree and refrigerate. Just before serving, mix in some cream and then serve with snipped chives for a bit of bite.

From Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris, I got the idea of making a zucchini vichyssoise.

Perfect. Now I can thwart summer on two fronts. Not only can I enjoy a delicious cold soup, I can also make another dent in the zucchini mountain growing outside our door.

This soup is so refreshing, it almost makes up for the pain of not being able to bake.

As an added “painkiller” and hopefully another salvo aimed at Summer, I’ve been topping the zucchini vichyssoise with … what else … more zucchini.

These fried zucchini strips are a common side dish in our house. It’s a very fast way to use up some zucchini and I have yet to meet the person that can resist them.

So I bide my time. Summer has to end sooner or later. Cooler temperatures will usher in the days of baking once again.

I just hope the freezer holds out.

Ciao!

Zucchini Slivers

2 zucchini, medium-sized
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
corn oil or canola oil, for frying
sea salt, to taste

1. Cut the ends off the zucchini and discard. Slice the zucchini into the finest slivers you can by first cutting the zucchini into long, thin slices and then cutting the slices into long, thin slivers. Set aside.

2. In a large frying pan, pour in enough oil to come about an inch up the side of the pan. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.

3. While the oil is heating, place the flour in a large bowl and in several batches, dredge the zucchini slivers in the oil. Once dredged, shake off the excess flour and place the slivers in a plate.

4. Once the oil is hot, fry the slivers in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan. The slivers will fry for about 4 to 5 minutes, at which time they should be golden. Using tongs, turn the slivers so that they become golden and crunchy on all sides.

5. Once golden, remove the zucchini slivers to a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt right away.

6. Serve the zucchini while hot.

Forgive the hyberbole, but I am truly nuts about nuts.

Groan, if you must.

Seriously, though. I love them. You can imagine how thrilled I was to discover that the July 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was to make a nut butter and then use it in a savoury dish.

I’m not exactly batting a thousand when it comes to DC challenges. This is naughty, naughty of me especially since I’m a Daring Kitchen co-founder.

I got my act together, printed off the amazing recipe from hosts Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies and got to it.

With a ridiculous amount of almonds lying about the house, I knew it was going to be almond butter for me. I got to whizzing the almonds in the processor and before I knew it I had the most delicious almond butter.

So I had a few spoonfuls. And then a few more. And a few more … and a few more … and … well … no more almond butter.

Not a problem!

I hauled out some more almonds and made another batch of almond butter. Deciding that I wanted to use my almond butter in some sort of dressing, I decided to get it all “savoury-ied” up so I added some salt and pepper, some parsley and thyme, some green onion and some paprika. I tasted my concoction and oh my wasn’t it good.

I spread some on a cracker and ate it. Then I spread some more. And some more. And then I just abandoned the crackers and attacked the almond butter with a spoon.

And then … no more almond butter.

So at this point I’ve consumed about two cups of almond butter, practically on my own, with no savoury dish to show for it.

I think I should quit while I’m ahead.

Margie and Natashya, thanks for an amazing challenge!

For the rest of you, check out all the amazing Daring Cooks’ creations with nut butters.

Ciao!

Almondish, Slightly Herby Spread and/or Dip
A Cream Puff Original

Note: You’ll have to forgive the incredibly vague recipe that follows. I was basically just throwing stuff in the food processor. What came out was very good.

2 cups whole almonds
some olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
roughly chopped green onions or chives
some fresh herbs (i.e., parsley and thyme)
some paprika

1) Whizz your almonds in the food processor until they are paste-like (takes 3 or 4 minutes).
2) Add in enough olive oil to make it creamy (not too much).
3) Add salt and pepper to taste.
4) If you like, add in some green onion or chive. Also add in some fresh herbs and some paprika. Whizz until it’s all creamy.
5) Spoon into a bowl and enjoy.

My parents moved into the house we live in two weeks before I was born. For as long as I can remember, we have always had a vegetable garden.

Our garden runs the length of our backyard. It’s a raised garden that, when in full bloom, crowns the backyard.

When my father was alive, he was the main gardener in the family. After he passed away, my mother took over.

Her garden is a thing of beauty. Lush, full and alive, it’s a peaceful strip of heaven in the middle of a very typical Toronto neighbourhood.

The other day I was home from work, not feeling well. I went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and as I waited for the water to boil, I did what I’ve done probably a thousand times: I stood by the sink and looked out the kitchen window directly at my mother’s garden.

I do this so often that most of the time I don’t even think I notice what I’m seeing. But on that day, maybe because it had rained shortly before, it’s like I really noticed the garden for the first time.

It was so beautiful and it made me feel so much better.

I’m so proud of my mom and her garden that I grabbed my camera and went out to snap these pictures.

I don’t have a lot of experience taking nature photographs so I apologize in advance to my mom as the pictures don’t do her garden full justice. Still, though, I hope you enjoy them.

What I love most about my mother’s vegetable garden is that while it is orderly, it’s not overly orderly or neat. I love gardens that are a bit unstructured. In this picture, you can see the sweet pea in the back, framing the zucchini and the parsley. It’s hard to see in the picture but in the bottom, righthand corner you can see a bit of lavender peeping out. That’s a Cream Puff addition to the garden:

This is cicoria. It’s funny but I actually don’t know what this lettuce is referred to in English. It is without question my favourite lettuce and my mother grows it especially for me because she knows I love it. It’s bitter and hearty and I can’t imagine summer without it:

Being Italian, the majority of our garden is dominated by tomato plants. We’re still at least a few weeks away from our first tomatoes but they’re getting closer. And where would we be without basil for out tomatoes:

My mother is especially proud of these particular tomato plants because they actually grew from the seeds of last year’s tomatoes. When we make our tomato sauce in August, we bury the tomato peels and seeds in the garden. Well some of those seeds will bear fruit this year:

This is bietola, or swiss chard. Again, this is something that has to be in the garden every year! We enjoy our bietola in my mother’s super delicious minestrone, which is an Italian vegetable soup. My mom doesn’t waste any space in the garden so we snuck in some chives just in front of the bietola:

We love our hot peppers:

At the other end of the garden, my mother works on her beans, cucumbers and my strawberries. I first planted a strawberry plant years ago and since then, its multiplied into numerous plants. We don’t get a lot of strawberries but the ones that we do get are so flavourful. My mother loves beans so there’s lots of those, too:

There’s no such thing as wasted space in my mother’s garden and that includes containers. This particular container is filled with cucumber plants. I’m sure this barrel has a story behind it … if only it could talk:

If there is one thing about the garden that my mother and I disagree on, it’s sage. I love it. She doesn’t. Still, she lets me keep one sage bush that is so full and beautiful. Those yellow flowers peeking around and through the sage bush are more cucumbers:

The garden also includes a number of containers that my mom uses for herbs and lettuce:

I get one container for all the herbs that I love like thyme, tarragon and oregano:

And last, but certainly not least, rosemary. My very favourite:

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of my mother’s garden as much as I enjoyed taking them. Even though it’s a small garden, it’s a beautiful one. My mother deserves so much credit for creating such a lovely space. It’s a pleasure to enjoy the fruits of her labours.

I hope that you take whatever space you have and plant a garden, too!

Ciao!

Growing up, chickpeas were a big part of our diet. While my mom would often make dishes with dried chickpeas that had been soaked overnight and reconstituted, she would just as often open up a can of chickpeas and use them in salads and soups, in particular.

I was going through a pile of magazine clippings recently and I come across a recipe for Spicy Toasted Garbanzo Beans and Pistachios from the February 2003 issue of Bon Appétit.

I’m always looking for quick and delicious appetizer recipes to serve with drinks whenever we have get-togethers. I find these types of recipes better for the type of entertaining we do because they offer a quick nibble and people are less likely to fill up on a dish like this as opposed to a more substantial appetizer.

These roasted chickpeas (garbanzo beans are chickpeas) and pistachios are so addictive that I often have to double or triple the recipe. And they’re fast and easy to make, to boot.

This is my entry for this week’s Magazine Mondays. Hope you give them a try!

Here’s who’s joined me for this edition of MM:

Wandering Coyote of ReTorte made Roasted Lemon Cake from Taste magazine. Awhile ago, she also made Everyday Granola from the June 2010 issue of Bon Appétit.

Claire of Chez Cayenne made Lemon Pulihora from the April 2006 issue of Vegetarian Times.

Brenda of Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen made Triple Cheese Spirals from the April 2010 issue of Food Network magazine.

The prolific recipe sleuth made the following recipes from magazines: Spicy Grilled Shrimp from the June 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living; Grilled Buttermilk Chicken from the June 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living; Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Garlicky Potato Salad from June/July 2010 issue of Cook’s Country; Spiced Strawberry Shortcake from the Summer 2010 issue of Homemakers; Roasted Red Pepper Bocconcini Pops from Holiday 2006 issue of Food & Drink; Quinoa, Garbanzo and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing from the July 2010 issue of Bon Appétit; and Linguine with Shrimp and Cilantro-Lime Pesto from the July 2010 issue of Bon Appétit.

Carla of Recipeaddict made Pork Chips with Tarragon Sauce and Cornichons from the November 2008 issue of Bon Appétit.

Remember that anyone can take part in Magazine Mondays. If you post a recipe from a magazine, just send me the link and I’ll include it in my next round-up.

Have a great week everyone!

Ciao!

Have you ever had the experience where a million people will come and ask you if you’ve seen a movie that you haven’t seen and then they will proceed to tell you why you should see it?

Everyone around you is talking about the movie, raving about the movie, asking you why in the world you still haven’t seen the movie so much so that you decide not to see the movie because even though you haven’t seen it, you already know you’ll hate it.

Simply by virtue of the fact that everybody else loves it.

Ever had that happen?

That’s what happend to me and the movie While You Were Sleeping.

And also, shortcakes with strawberries.

The entire world saw and loved While You Were Sleeping in 1995. Except for me.

The entire world has had shortcakes with strawberries (or at least it seems that way). Except for me.

This morning my mother and I went strawberry picking and I swear it was the last straw.

As we walked to the car with our pails of strawberries I think I heard about 4,000 comments about strawberries and shortcakes.

Enough is enough. Even I know when to throw in the towel.

I came home, cleaned strawberries for hours, made jam and then I did it.

I made shortcakes with strawberries. To be perfectly accurate, I made biscuits with strawberries and cream.

Okay. I get it. I finally get it.

Strawberries + shortcakes + cream = deliciousness.

Happy now?!

By the way, somewhere between 1998-2000 I finally saw While You Were Sleeping and loved it.

Happy now?!

Ciao!

Strawberries with Cream and Biscuits

Note: I’m going to do a separate post about the biscuits that I used for my version of this classic. If you don’t have a great shortcake recipe, try this one or this one.

1 cup sliced strawberries mixed with a bit of sugar and lemon juice
1 cup whipped cream
4 biscuits

Split the biscuits in half and put them on a plate.
Pile one half of the biscuit high with cream
Spoon on some strawberries and top with the other biscuit half and serve.
Enjoy!

To all my fellow Canadians, have a Happy Canada Day!

Ciao!