Blossom Breakfast : Summer on a Plate

The cat is polishing off the tiny fragments of egg and hollandaise clinging to a ramekin. All four of us are going to go back to Sunday morning "stuff" - I'm going to do the dishes when I finish writing, the boy is watching TV, and Bill is in the garage cleaning. Murray will probably take a nap. And I don't think that among the 4 billion taste buds that make up the four mouths in this home that there is a solitary one that is not just satisfied as it possibly could be.

I am really proud of breakfast today. For years now I watch chefs cook with squash blossoms. And I've never eaten one until today. I tried to once (in Rome) but they neglected to tell me that the beautiful squash blossom panini was lathered with anchovy paste and instead I traded for Bill's proscuitto and mozzarella. So August 30 was really day 1 for squash blossoms and I.

We literally planted a hundred plants in July just to eat the squash blossoms when they came. Today, despite an incredibly busy weekend, time, blossom and opportunity intersected with gorgeous result.

I picked 10 gorgeous blossoms (closed up so they'd stuff better) from the garden and washed them for dirt and critters. I shredded various cheeses in a bowl, including a divine piave vecchiu, added two eggs, some minced shallots, some dijon and some lemon zest. Then I took one of the mature squashes, sliced it and lined the bottom of a ceramic dish with the discs - underneath was a hint of garlic butter so nothing would stick. I pumped the egg and cheese filling into a ziploc bag and loaded up the blossoms.

If you ever find you want to pipe something (like icing, or sauce, or hummus) you don't need a fancy pastry bag. Grab a plastic sandwich bag, and fold it over a cup. Don't try to fill it directly or you will end up with goo all over the bag, and your hands. The cup allows you to fill it evenly, and then just to fold up the ends. EASY!


I basted the blossoms with a bit of butter, salted them and shaved some cheese over the top. I baked them in a ceramic dish inside a lasagna pan, and then poured hot water into the lasagna pan. This is known as a water bath, and it insulates the ceramic dish from heat that can be too harsh. It is a great way just to make a plain egg too...

The fresh squash (the end product) and the gorgeous blossom (the beginning) were like summer on a plate. The garlic, shallots, dijon and cheese added a richness to the fresh tender flowers. Of course, I made a hollandaise to go over it but they would have been good just on their own. They were soft, floral, fresh, tender.

Thoughts are creative. In July, I hoped that a bunch of little seeds would become edible blossoms. On August 30, they exceeded my expectations, but now I'm hungry for more. Fortunately there is a whole bouquet to eat our way through this month!

Know what you do well... and be known for it.

We had dinner with friends last night, four couples. My friend Lillian made the two most delicious salads I've eaten all year. They had the perfect balance of crunch, sweetness, acidity, smoothness, softness and texture. There were lots of ingredients - at least 15 - but the sunflower seeds, cranberries, cabbage and red onion were standouts. The overall effect was not simple, but delicious.

Each of the women in these couples are such great entertainers... And here are the lessons I've learned from being hosted at their homes.

The Signature Cocktail: Jay and Lill always have a signature drink when you go to their house, a habit which I've adopted for years now. It is a tremendous perk to the host since that first bit of event chaos can easily be taken up by the first three people that you ask "Would you like something to drink?". Boy, can that question ever catch up with you!

Be careful what you wish for, or offer your guests! At so many parties I have found myself immediately swamped with "I'll have a white wine, with half Perrier and a twist of lemon, if you have it" or "I'll have a Rum and Coke" followed by "What kind of red have you got?". Jay + Lillian's cocktail resolves all of this - at least until those last few items are dealt with AFTER company is already arriving.

A Menu You Know Will Work: A dinner party at Maureen and Don's home is always a treat because Maureen puts together a menu that she knows - exactly. Have you ever seen a movie where a wizard pulls out a magic wand, and suddenly everything appears? Being at Maureen's is like watching a scene from "Bewitched". I have never ever been to a dinner party where everything was so perfectly timed, where the food just magically seemed to float onto the plates, and where the hostess appeared so at ease. This can only be achieved through lots of advance preparation, really solid planning, and a properly timed menu where the cook is comfortable.

The same goes for appetizers. I can not attend a party where I know Maureen will be, and not instantly crave her baked brie with maple, cranberry and walnuts. She is reknowned for this dish, we all love it, and I can only speculate that is why she always looks so flawless at parties, while I barely have makeup on because I lost so much time to running around trying something new....

Enjoy The Company You Invited: At Maria and Ozzy's house, ambiance is everything, and great company is really what it's about. Their entire atmosphere is welcoming - like you've just gotten off a plane and been transported to a beautiful villa for a vacation with your friends. The meal was luxurious (the steaks were perfect) but as a guest, we felt like we had all evening to talk about wine, about each other, and just enjoy getting together.

Have you ever been to a party where you felt sorry for the hostess? She might have been complaining that something wasn't clean enough, that there was no ice, or lemon, that some dish was overcooked, or some other "calamity" that you wouldn't even have noticed if she hadn't pointed it out? The guests feel uncomfortable - like they're intruding, like they were responsible for putting her out, or that she just isn't having any fun. I am sure at some point I've been "that" girl (Thanksgiving 07 ring a bell, familigia?). But I really really really try not to be.

As one french chef used to say "Never apologize".

If you've been the one doing the inviting, remember that the event is supposed to be just that - inviting.

Last but not least, my two friends Alicia and Anne Marie each have a fail-safe recipie that they rely on. It's their go-to "thing" that they know will always go well.

Alicia's Stuffed Mushroom Caps are so good they should require a pleasure permit. I have got to call her for the how-to tonight. I remember simple and delicious creaminess - was it cream cheese, parmesan, onion, garlic? Baked to perfection, it's an absolutely perfect one bite appetizer. Lish, when you read this, can you pass on the recipe in "comments" or email me?

Anne Marie's Frozen Blueberries with Hot White Chocolate Sauce is amazing too. She pours frozen blueberries in a wine glass or other beautiful conversation piece - martini and champagne would probably work wonders as well. In a stovetop pan go some cream and a few cubes of white chocolate until it swoons! I love the simple flavours, the dark blueberries and the white chocolate, and the feeling of both hot and cold, of tart and sweet, and of firmness and liquidity.

I watch a lot of Seinfeld, and my last word on the subject is that there is a difference between a rerun and a classic.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Soupe a L'Oignon

The kitchen smells incredible now, even though both of our eyes were watering quite a bit as a really large onion was being chopped. I'm on page 43 - and the onions are browning in butter. They're slowly sweetening and softening - kind of like when I left law practice.

Two quarts of beef stock were $2 each. The onion was $1.59, and when it was sliced it came to exactly the five cups that I needed for the soup. There is a baguette, on top of which will go a mountain of real gruyere from Switzerland. I hope it's worth it - it was $13! But real is always better than fake, right?

Carmelizing is where an ingredient's natural sugars come out, browning them. It happens with meat, but is MAGICAL with onions. I'm 20 minutes into this soup, and the onions are now brown. Stiring, the sticky onions lift off the pan, marrying with the butter.

Then it's time to add the stock. I'm reading out loud from the cookbook "add boiling stock to the onions" and mutter out loud - "sorry Julia" it's going in cold". From the living room comes the voice "Julia says boiling, so it should be boiling. Scientific workability, remember?".

OK, I'll meet Julia in the middle and microwave the stock so it's hot. While it's counting down, I realize that cold stock would halt the cooking process, and simmering of the onions. OK, fine. In goes a half a cup of wine (the exact amount left in my fridge) and as the steam wafts over the pot, I inhale the alcohol evapourating...what cooks call the "angel's share".

I open the gruyere - and am immediately hit with the smell of something less than magical. In fact, my immediate reacion is "yuck". I should like it! It's the natural match! But I don't want to ruin my soup even though Bill assures me that the tang will probably balance out with the sweetness of the onions. But mine gets garnished with a 2 year old cheddar instead.

This onion soup was a really solid dish, with a baguette slice browned in butter, topped with grated cheese. The soft onions merge with the doughy bread, and the occasional cheesy crisp bite.

This dish made for a perfect Sunday evening. Now, laundry.

Top 10 Things you should ALWAYS have in your fridge, pantry and kitchen

Here's something I've been thinking about a lot. The top 10 list of what my fridge always always always contains... I am NEVER ever without them for more than a day.

MUST have fridge items:

10. Whole grain super healthy bread.
9. Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese for spectacular-ifying any dish or salad
8. Lemons for freshness, zing and acidity
7. My favourite fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, rosemary, etc...)
6. Fresh linguini or spaghetti pasta.
5. Proscuitto
4. Dijon Mustard
3. Skim Mozzarella cheese or Feta cheese
2. Spinach
1. Butter

Pantry top 10:

10. Soup stock
9. Fresh Garlic
8. Canned legumes like chick peas, black beans, white beans and red kidney beans.
7. A can of crushed tomatoes.
6. Olive oil
5. White or black balsamic vinegar
4. 70 or 80% dark chocolate
3. Brown rice
2. Black peppercorns
1. Kosher or sea salt

Must-have tools:

10. A slow cooker
9. A non-stick skillet with a heavy bottom to distribute heat. (Skinny warped pans should be fired immediately from your kitchen.)
8. A good large cutting board - one side for fruit, the other for veggies and garlic.
7. A separate plastic cutting board for any proteins.
6. Long Tongs
5. A deep soup pot
4. Magic Bullet
3. A great paring knife (thanks Anne Marie for my Global paring knife - I love it!)
2. Microplane
1. A good sharp chef's knife that feels like an extension of your own hand.

Boeuf Bourguignon

Kitchen Aftermath & a Delicious Finished Product!












Yes - I love the movie "Julie and Julia".

My favourite scene is when Julia's husband, Paul comes up with just the right word to articulate a flavour Julia is trying to describe - just, exactly, perfectly the right one. You know you have found the love of your life when he can finish your culinary sentences correctly! The look on her face when she realizes for the millionth time that the man she is spending her life with is really and truly the one man meant for her... I'm a softie for scenes like that, particularly when they combine love and food!

These two women found themselves in the kitchen. They came alive when they were cooking, feeding, creating, and savouring everything around them.

I know that cooking and eating have helped me enjoy my life more. I certainly didn't do enough of it when I was practicing law. Now, I really do take more time for the things I delight in. The things I find DELICIOUS.

Friday evening - premiere night. I wished I had spent the entire day cooking, but the workweek went by quickly. Yet, at 5:00 I thought I had just enough time to make Beef Bourguingnon before the movie. See the splattered pages 315 - 317 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking for better instructions than I'll ever be able to give you here...

I literally "consumed" the movie (waiting for it since July and then finally enjoying it!). We walked in the front door after the movie at 9:00 and inhaled the gorgous smell of perfect food. Really honest, perfect, delicious, well-made food. Call it "boeuf Bourguignon" or "beef stew" but it was delicious.

Harrison came with my mom and I yesterday to see it. I love that he watched the entire movie with enthusiasm. Later that night, we were both hungry and I had only the pious building blocks of meals in the fridge. Sometimes, I'm frustrated when I have nothing easy in the fridge and actually have to "make" something! But I usually find this is the ripest opportunity to create something awesome!

I took out a puff pastry sheet and sprinkled some chopped up ham and 2 year old shredded cheddar cheese on top. Then I dropped two whole eggs on top of that, wrapped it up, and put it on the Silpat. * you have to get one of these things - nothing EVER sticks to it!!!!* Harrison called this dish "slices of heaven", proclaiming "That Julia Child sure knew what she was doing!" :)

On a whim, I invited my entire family over for lunch today - on about two hours notice. I made fresh zucchini cakes (shredded zucchini, s + p, 3 tbsp flour and one egg) fried in olive oil, with a homemade mayonnaise. I reheated the Boeuf Bourguignon from Friday, and served fresh cherry tomatoes out of the garden with sliced bocconcini mozzarella and basil. For dessert, I bought an angel food cake, and served it with a sauce of pureed strawberries and cream.

I love the chaos of a family gathering. I love that 2 year olds and 90 year olds eat the same things, in the same portions! I love that my dad gets surprised when I make something delicious - like it came out of an "easy-bake oven" or something. I love when my mom insists that she help me with the clean-up when I really don't want her to... and then saves me my 19 minutes for blog-writing. I love leftovers!

Most of all, I love that cooking provides each of us with energy for our lives. Whether we're crying from trying to prove something when we're chopping onions, to blinking away tears from a buttery sole meuniere, to watching the men we love describe our food, to resisting our own misty eyes when we retire eventually from a career that truly exemplified who we are - food.

Food gives us energy for living our lives to the fullest.