First First Thursday Attempt (Failed)

This is prerecorded. As you read this, I am floating on a canal somewhere in England, exhausted from tackling the 34 locks of the Tardebigge flight

I am terribly addicted to thursday night smackdown. I love the way she writes, honest, funny and painful. Months ago, I had this great plan to play along with her First Thursday event. The challenge that month was to actually follow a recipe, no cheating, no tweaking. A REAL challenge for me!
I chose my Les Halles Cookbook. I have never cooked from it, although I do enjoy reading the recipes, and its about time I gave it a chance.
Today's recipe is palette de porc a la biere. I will be honest, I couldn't get a bone in pork shoulder. The recipe as written below is totally simplified from the book; I would recommend picking it up if you are interested in traditional recipes with an irreverent prose style.

Of course, I never got my @#$% together and here it is almost 3 months later and I am finally getting around to posting the results...

Palette de Porc a la biere

Ingredients
4 to 6 lb pork shoulder, bone in
salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 small onions
2 carrots
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup cider vinegar
12 oz beer
1 cup chicken stock
4 tbsp dijon
2 tbsp breadcrumbs

Season the pork and sear in 2 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp butter. Discard the fat and add the remaining oil. Saute the vegetables until soft and slightly caramelised. Add flour, cook 2 minutes. Stir in Vinegar and beer and reduce by half, then add teh chicken stock and bring to a boil. Return pork to the pot and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for two hours or so.
Preheat the oven to 450F. Remove the pork from the pot and place on baking sheet. Brush with half the mustard, then press the breadcrumbs on. Brown for 15 minutes, then allow to rest for 5
Strain the cooking liquid into a sauce pan. Simmer about 15 minutes, check seaoning. Remove from heat, whisk in mustard and serve with the sliced pork.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the results were delicious...

Chicken with Artichokes and Peas

MY alternate entry for the stew event. The recipe is adapted from this months Gourmet Magazine.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH ARTICHOKES AND PEAS


Chicken thighs are a natural for braising because they stay nice and juicy. Plus, the dark meat is a good counterpoint to the sweetness of peas and the slight acidity of the artichokes.

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
750 g boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (14-oz) can artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained, and halved lengthwise
1 cup frozen baby peas (not thawed)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon herbes de provence
Preheat oven to 300F
Put flour in a shallow bowl. Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, then dredge, 1 piece at a time, in flour, shaking off excess. Transfer to a sheet of wax paper as coated.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté chicken turning over once, until deep golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate (chicken will not be fully cooked).

Add onion with remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden brown around edges, about 6 minutes. Add herbes de provence and wine and boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, 1 minute. Stir in broth, artichokes, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Return chicken to skillet along with any juices from plate, cover and place in oven. Simmer until chicken is tender, about 40minutes. Stir in peas and simmer, covered, 5 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a shallow serving dish. Stir parsley and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper into artichoke mixture, then spoon over chicken.

Menu for Hope III ~ Canadian Content

Well, we are in the final days of this menu for hope and looking at 30.000$ raised! You have until Dec 22 to buy raffle tickets, so don't forget about the rest of our lovely Canadian prizes.

CA10 ~ the fabulous people behind one of my favourite blogs, an endless banquet, bring you an abundance of goodies and preserves; the Pear, Vanilla, BOurbon butter sounds wonderful!

CA 11 ~ found right here on this blog, I am offering up a collection of handmade chocolates and truffles. I test marketed them at a party on the weekend and the response was very positive. The flavours are Port, Dulce De Leche, Frangelico, Kahlua, Chai, Peanut Butter and Rosewater and Cardamom. 2 dozen of these little gems will come in a handpainted box (painted in the colours of the winner's choice). Like most of the Canadian prizes, I will ship anywhere.


CA12~ Susur Lee is one of the most exciting chefs in Canada right now and you can own an exclusive signed copy of his biography/memoir/cookbook Susur: a Culinary Life courtesy of Rob and Rachel of Hungry in Hogtown

CA13~ I am not sure I want to tell you about CA13. I want this priz; A chocolate lovers dream. Clement of a la cuisine is offering a sampling of the finest chocolates from around the world.

That is all I have time for today. Come on, buy a ticket or two; it could be your lucky day!

Canadian Menu for Hope part 2

Did you see how well we are doing? Thank you to everyone who has bought a raffle ticket so far, although I would love to see a little more Canadian Content. So, without further ado, here are the next few Canadian prizes.

CA06 ~ Nico's delicious Chilean Bread. This works best for someone in the Vancouver area. Nico will bake some Chilean Bread, freeze it and deliver it with cooking instructions to your desired location. How could you go wrong with homemade bread?

CA07~ More cookbooks, courtesy of Jen from THe Canadian Baker. The cupcake book looks stunning and way too tempting. But don't take my word for it; follow the link to her site to read all about it, then buy a ticket!

CA08 and CA09~ Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours, autographed no less! Some of you may remember that I made delicious apple spice bars from that cookbook, but she also has a killer recipe for chocolate marshmallow madelines that I never got around to posting. All the more reason to enter the draw for the cookbook (CA08). CA09, also from Sara, is Culianry Calgary to go. This package includes a cookbook AND some chocolate along with a few other goodies.

That is all I have time for today. Off to work in the culinary salt mines.

Canadian Menu for Hope

Sick of hearing about Menu for Hope yet?? I hope not, because I want to point out the wonderful Canadian prize packages.

CA01 ~ from my wonderful swap partner, Kelli Ann of avoir une famille n'est pas comme un teleroman.
She has knitted an adorable teacozy, before for keeping your teapot warm on those dreary February days. The fun doesn't stop there; she has also thrown in a local tisane blend AND a set of vintage styled set of postcards from a couple of Canadian artists.

CA02 ~ Tara, of seven spoons (I can't believe I have never read this blog before!) has donated some cookbooks. The first, one I have long had my eye on, is Michelle Cranston and Petrina Tinslay's Food and Drink at Home. I love all of Michelle Cranston's books and I may have to add this one to my collection. Also included in the cookbook prize package are Bob Blumer's cookbook AND the Playboy Bartender's Guide. Sounds like a well rounded party planning package!

CA03 ~ a makeover for your blog! Want to spice up your blog page, make it look a little more polished? Meena of Hooked on Heat is offering her talent to design a blog header all your own.

CA04 ~ worth a trip to Ontario, without a doubt. Jasmine is offering up a huge prize package that I am seriously coveting ; "Work up an appetite at a guided hike through the Waterloo moraine (a beautiful natural aquifer, protected from development). Afterwards, I’ll prepare a simple supper for us at tranquil Sunfish Lake (pictured), hosted by Edna Staebler’s dear friend and neighbour. Thanks to the very kind people at Wilfrid Laurier Press, you will also receive a copy of the just-off-the-press re-release of Edna’s first cookbook, Food That Really Schmecks. An optional morning at the St. Jacob’s Farmer’s Market can also be included on this day-trip. "

CA05~ Paige of chef-girl.net has donated a Michael Smith cookbook, A Chef’s Day at The Inn at Bay Fortune. Those of you who watch his shows knwo that Michael Smith is an interesting and talented chef. I would be very curious to see what kind of recipes are in that book ~ nly way to find out is to buy a raffle ticket!
That's all I have time for today. Tomorrow, I will look at the next five Canadian prizes.
Please, dig into your virtual pockets and donate to this wonderful cause!

Menu for Hope III ~ a few of my favourite things

This is a canned post; I sat down on my day off and wrote a few to post on my really insane days!
I want to talk about Menu for Hope again and more specifically, the prizes I have my eye on (because I can have my own prize any time I like).
I was surfing through the lists on Chez Pim and the first thing my eyes fell on was prize UW25. I think a good excuse to check out Chicago PLUS what an interesting conference!

Next, I spotted UC09
I have been in love with the sheer creativity of Ideas in Food for quite a while now, and to be able to own a hardcover copy of their book!?

Also in the middle US, UC07 and UC06. Some cool geek gadgets; an iPod nano and a photo lightbox! What a score that would be for a mere ten dollar ticket!

Perhaps the most coveted prize, UW08, a pass for Taste3.

Update

Menu for Hope

Well, some of you may have been wondering where I got too; last week seriously kicked my @##. Christmas is coming and in catering land, that means working 15 hrs a day, at least 5 days a week. Today, I am off, but I don't have recovery time; I have truffles to make, cards to write, parties to plan and gift boxes to paint. I haven't posted any food lately, because I don't even know what the food looks like; I just put it in my mouth and hope it keeps me going for a few more hours. Look for more regular posting to start in January. I will try to post as much as possible through December, but I don't see a lot of that happening.

The next blog on my Blogreader spotlight really needs no introduction. If you don't read her by now, please start. Head on over to bakingsheet, produced by the talented Nic.

Menu For Hope III ~CA11

Menu for Hope is a fund raising campaign started two years ago. The first year, the money raised went to help tsunami victims. The next, people hit by the earthquake in Pakistan. This year, funds raised will go to the United Nations World Food Program. Food bloggers around the world put together prize packages to be submitted to one giant raffle. Tickets are 10$ US and you can specify the prize that you wish to enter the draw for, one prize code per 10$ donation.

This year, Jasmine talked me into participating and I am offering up a chocolate lover's dream prize; Twenty four assorted hand crafted chocolates and truffles in a handpainted wooden box. The box is semi customised, as the winner of the prize will be able to choose what colours they want to go on it! The flavours I have chosen to include are; chai, port, frangelico, dulce de leche, gingerbread, cardamom and rosewater, and Kahlua. I use 70% or 86% dark chocolate for most of the truffles, with a little bit of Callebaut white thrown in for colour contrast (cardamom and rosewater, gingerbread). Prize Code is CA11

I hope that everyone who reads this blog will get in on the Menu for Hope campaign. There are so many other wonderful prizes available as well; Jasmine has the Canadian round up here and the international listing can be found at Chez Pim, the original organiser!

To buy raffle tickets or to make a donation towards the campaign:
1. Go to the donation page at (http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhopeIII) to make a contribution.
2. Each US$10 donation will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize or prizes you'd like by entering the prize code in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your contribution. E.G: A US$50 donation may be two tickets for UW99 and three tickets for CA20.*
3. Some companies will match personal charitable donations made by staff. If your company has such a program, please remember to mark the appropriate box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
4. Please also check the box to allow us to see your email address. We need this so we can contact you in case you win a prize. If you do not do this, we will be unable to contact you. Please be assured that we will not share your email address with anyone.
5. Raffle results will be announced on 15 January on Chez Pim. Draws will be conducted electronically, thanks to Derrick at Obsession with Food for creating computer application used to magically select names.

* N.B: Canadian tax laws prohibit charitable donation receipts to be issued by registered Canadian charities for raffle or lottery tickets. The UNWFP is a U.S.-based charity; should any donation receipts issued, you will need to seek professional advice regarding applying them to your Canadian income tax return.
Menu_for_Hope
Menuforhope

The return of Blogreader Spotlight

Between being sick, working my butt off and trying to get ready for Christmas, Blogreader Spotlight fell by the way. But I am bringing it back, with a new to me blog that just happens top fall alphabetically in the next slot; Baking and Books. I have only just started exploring this blog and I am looking forward to reading more.

Menu for Hope III

Stay tuned for my contribution to the Menu for Hope campaign. I hope someone bids on it. I'll give you a hint. The words "handpainted" and "homemade candies and truffles" were in my description to Jasmine.