ME and MINE: the blog

a few events

2010-05-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

So, we have been kinda busy with some catering and working on a menu for a new restaurant to be open soon in Toronto. The first two pictures are from a party at Thrush Holmes hosted by Alex Wilson. The second ones are from the one year anniversary of the wedding cake shop on college where we did a bit of a savory spread for them with pickled peppercorn & parsley pork sausages and chicken pecan brandy terrine. We also made in house crackers, brined olives and pickles.The last few are a bit of a tease of the new restaurant!!! not bad eh!

the musical fruit

2010-03-14T20:29:00.001-07:00

so me and trevor had a friend over for dinner & i decided to try an item on a menu that im sorting out. so i made this roasted bean salad with walnuts, spinach & parmesan to be served with buckwheat & poppy pancakes. i also made a caramelized shallot sour cream and a red wine currant preserve. it was nice to see the different plans of attack on this. im really starting to encourage getting ones elbows dirty at the table, so i've included a few extra pictures of "plating techniques".... oh yeah and there was pommery mustard and wine involved!!!.. not bad eh!

wedding bellz!!!

2010-02-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

So i know... this post is a bit late... but not old fashioned late late... we catered a friends wedding in October for 150 people. They wanted the cupcake deal and a small cake for something to cut. For the cupcakes, the flavours were lemon poppy seed, chocolate pistachio, ginger orange peel and vanilla lavender. They were all topped with a goats cheese icing. The cake was a flourless chocolate pistachio with a layer of wild cranberry preserve. We were also asked to make the stands out of old plates and tarnished goblets...not bad eh!

boy has she been busy... like seriously

2010-02-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

The best part of catering is that sometimes you get the leftovers... we did this photoshoot and they wanted some simple roasted chicken with a mushroom and wine jus over potatoes. so melissa took it upon herself to turn the leftovers from that into perogies and croquettes... and then made some corn beef. She is making me look bad...but!!!, not bad eh!

"There is a shot of the roasted chicken we made for the photoshoot.

I then used the potatoes left over from that mixed with a bit of grated aged cheddar to make perogies for the first time. So good with the mushroom, mustard and drippings from the chicken. and because it was my first time doing it I had no idea how much dough would actually yield from the recipe I used so I had some left over potato mixture so I made croquettes with them by adding an egg and breading and frying it. SOOOO good.

There is also a shot of the corned beef I made. which despite being my first try at it turned out pretty well. next time I'm smoking it and making pastrami instead."

oh deer...

2010-01-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Restless at home, my father obtained a deer roast from a friend. It was braised with a ham bone from dinner the night before and a good splash of white wine. This was my first time having deer so i didn't want to over complicate the flavor. It was surprisingly buttery because of the pork fat. I'm from a town called Capreol which is found in northern Ontario where blueberries create annual festivals. My mother had some frozen from the summer that i used in a reduction of the dear juice. It was served over re fried mashed potatoes and roasted spaghetti squash. God damn it was quite the treat. Not bad eh!

sarah jane brithday spread!

2009-11-30T09:56:00.001-08:00

On a night of murder, an air of birthday celebration filled my humble apartment/crime scene. My grandmother was known for her perogies and in the small town Capreol, she had made a small business of it. So i used her dough recipe to make beet perogies with caramelized onions and goats cheese. Also in the spread, there was homemade poppy seed butter crackers, thyme ice box biscuits, split pea- pancetta puree and red wine currant preserves. I almost forgot the pickles; dill cukes, cider cauliflower and rice wine ginger. not bad eh!

blue mac moi

2009-11-30T09:15:00.000-08:00

"i love mac and cheese. I tried to class it up a bit. I made mac and blue cheese and put granny smith apples in it for some sour bite. also, I added a bit of apple cider vinegar to the cheese sauce to keep the sauce super creamy and not separate. " - Melissa

pull that pork

2009-11-30T09:13:00.000-08:00

Pork shoulder. this is how I make friends apparently I tweaked the recipe I used for ma's party and took it to jesse's to eat while watching star trek on his giant projector. I braised the shoulder in ginger beer and stock with dates, cranberries and apples, cinnamon, cloves, corriander and star anise. I made an apple, date and ginger beer chutney of sorts. Ate it with fresh baguette. soooo goood.

What are these she asks?

2009-11-09T10:15:00.001-08:00

melissa to me, " These turned out like a dream. I used the dough from that bakers book. It's pretty good. These are pecan butter tarts with a pumpkin pie centre."
which book you ask? she will never tell... not bad eh!

2 birds

2009-11-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

so I've been obsessed with this baking book. and obsessed with getting my pie crust perfect. this one turned out nicely. the trick is to not overwork/blend the dough. i find it hard trusting recipes that work with pie crusts and custards. so this molasses pumpkin pie was a challenge. but the texture was perfect. like seriously. oh and here are some mull poached pears i made for a potluck. which no one brought food to. you know who you are. but anyways... not bad eh!

god damn you nature!

2009-10-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

so i went up north this weekend to visit the family and a friend of my brother's gave him a moose roast and ribs. naturally i jumped at the chance to make a mouse stew old fashion style with fall time vegetables in the likes of beet, carrot, turnip and broccoli. i braised it in beer and a bit of red wine with a traditional mirepoix and herbs. then i pulled it and made gravy with the drippings. I'm not a big fan of pasta... yeah i know... but it had been years since i had egg noodles. it was so tender and not all that gamy, which i normally don't mind, but who knew moose could taste so buttery. oh, i forgot to mention that i added bacon to every step possible. my bad. BUT, not bad eh!

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carrot chutney

2009-10-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

a quick fix tonight. been working on a wedding cake for the weekend which ill be posting the results of soon. so i had some carrot chutney with black currants i had made a while ago so i finally put it to some use. not bad eh!

the linzer tort

2009-10-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

so traditionally this tort is made with hazelnuts, almonds and with red currant jam, BUT! i had none of those in my pantry except the almonds. so i replaced them with more refined ingredients. just saying. i used pistachios instead with a peach-fig jam i had made a while ago. i really liked how this turned out. the buttery crumble of the nut fused crust made it worth the patience of working with the delicate dough. AND, i also made mulled wine to go with it. not bad eh!

skillet WHAT? skillet cake.

2009-10-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

alright, i know what you are thinking. big deal. and you are right. IT WAS! using a cast iron pan, i made the best pancake ever. what made it the best ever? bacon fat and home made dark brown sugar syrup did. not bad eh!

sour cream you oh-so-sweet

2009-10-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

melissa made this simple sour cream and orange bundt cake with raspberries when the sun was still shinning. oh brother... i think bundt cakes are due for a come back. please bundt cake.. COME BACK! not bad eh!

lamb sounds

2009-09-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

so i've never made shepherd's pie before except for in school. i think we used veal. but this time i used lamb, which is the real way. i topped with with a broiled dill mash and served it with maple brussel sprouts. i've been working with flavored sugar as of late. with trial and error, i succeeded in doing it without burning the added ingredient while the sugar had just caramelized. so with this main, i garnished it with pommery sugar shards. not bad eh!

...AND two become one

2009-09-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

so i made this fresh ginger and carrot cake one day. then the next day i was invited to dinner chez Lora's so i decided to turn the left overs into a cake pudding using a bourbon butterscotch and eggs to bind. not bad, eh!