Food Adventures: The Canadian National Exhibition, 2012

The Canadian National Exhibition (a.k.a. The CNE or The Ex) comes to Toronto for the last 3 weeks of August every year.  Basically it’s a giant fair (it's also a signal that summer is coming to an end…and although this is a sad thought, it also means that I am all that much closer to Starbucks bringing back their Pumpkin Spiced Lattes!).

I’ve been going every year since before I can remember.  The CNE has everything from carnival rides to farm animals,  a world bazaar where you can buy goods from Russia to Brazil and even a building (stadium) reserved for horse shows  (where I saw the most adorable miniature horse show this year…).  It also features an entire warehouse-sized building completely devoted to food, where culinary experiences from deep fried butter to vegan delicacies (and everything in between) is available. 

This is one of a handful of days in the year where the ‘everything in moderation’ policy I try to follow when it comes to food is thrown (like a quarterback) out the window - and I go in search of all things wacky and deep fried. 

The variety of food this year at The Ex did not disappoint.  I thought I might share some of the food adventures that I had…..(I will try to do them justice - but really words can’t describe how awesome they were….!)

Red Velvet Pancakes Stuffed with Pulled Pork

This one still makes me laugh.  (in the ‘ahaha….i can’t believe someone thought of this, and that I ate it’ way). 

The red velvet pancakes were amazing (I’m totally making these at home one day). 

The pulled pork was sweeter (almost like maple syrup) then what I am used to – I think that is how these two actually went well together (don’t laugh…it really was pretty good!).

Mars Bar (are you ready for this?!?) wrapped in Bacon, Battered and Deep Fried

Of course it's also drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with bacon bits....why not?!?

I’ve had a deep fried Mars bar before – It’s a fantastic thing.  The chocolate/nougat/caramel gets warm and gooey from being deep fried. 

Wrapped with slightly crispy bacon added a nice salty-ness to the above combination.  With all the gooey chocolate/nougat/caramel,  the texture of the bacon is barely noticeable – but the flavor is definitely there.

And from The Epic Burger people….(they did not disappoint)…

The Donut Burger

SO this was a burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese & bacon between two Krispy Kreme donuts. 

I do love me a Krispy Kreme donut…especially when they are fresh.  Surprisingly, this was not at all disgusting.  The burger ended up having a slight creamy-ness and sweet from the donuts.  I don’t know that I would have a donut burger again, but it was fun to try.   

The Behemoth

I am disappointed that I’ve never thought to do this myself.    

The Behemoth is a burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon between.....(buckle-up!) two grilled cheese sandwiches.  The grilled cheese sandwiches were made out of Texas toast.   They were not too buttery, and had a ‘lighter-then-I’m-used-to-on-a-grilled-cheese-sandwich’ toast on them.  The whole thing was amazing.  I would totally have this again and would even try making this at home.  This was truly Epic.

Rice Krispy Square, Battered and Deep Fried

This one was a bit of a fail.  There was wayyyyy too much batter and (contrary to what I first thought) the Rice Krispy (emphasis on the (K)crispy) square became soft again once it was deep fried.  So the whole thing ended up tasting like deep fried batter on a stick, covered in vanilla sauce…..Not my favourite. 

Bacon Dipped in Chocolate
This was actually pretty good.  I’ve had chocolate covered bacon and chocolate-bacon chocolate bars before - I’ve found that sometimes, the bacon flavor gets lost in all that chocolate.

 

But because the bacon was drizzled with a ‘not too sweet’ chocolate sauce, that lovely salty-bacon-y flavor that I hold so near and dear to my heart was retained. 

This was a great ‘eating’ day. 

Happy Cooking!

Lemon Thyme Chicken (a.k.a. Poulet au Thym Citronne)

This is one of the recipes from my French Farmhouse Cooking course that really rocked my world.... 

Lemon Thyme in the garden....So pretty...

This recipe hails from the Bresse area of Burgandy, France where the famous Poulet de Bresse (chickens) are raised. 

As per Wikipedia...

These birds are highly valued for their gamey depth of flavour, yet with fine, tender flesh and delicious, clean-flowing fat. Roughly 1.2 million are raised annually, but such is the demand inside France that few birds make it out of the country. As a premium product, they sell at a premium price: Poulet de Bresse command around 15 euro ($21US) per kilo at fine food markets.

The most typical examples, known as Bény, have a distinctive red crown, white feathers and blue feet, making up the colours of the French flag, making it an ideal national mascot.

This recipe is simple, but still packed with lots of flavour.  As you long as you don't burn the chicken when you brown it (which sometimes happens to me) it's truly a one-pot dish. 

The key with this recipe is to get a good brown on the chicken before stewing. 

If you don't have lemon thyme (I've never found it in my local grocery stores….I just happen to have it because I grow it every year in my garden) use regular thyme and add a bit more lemon juice (to taste) at the end.  You'll still get a lovely lemon and thyme chicken stew. 

I served this with a basic chive mashed potatoes and some glazed carrots. 

This is most definitely what I would call 'rustic comfort food'...

More Lemon Thyme pictures....it was so pretty that I couldn't stop photographing it!

Lemon Thyme Chicken (a.k.a. Poulet au Thym Citronne)

(Adapted from 'French Farmhouse Cooking' course manual - George Brown College)
Serves 5 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 4-ish pound Chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Sea salt & Ground pepper

2 large Onions, Julienned (I used the large white onions...).

8 Garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half

1 large handful fresh Lemon Thyme sprigs (regular thyme will work here too)  (a large handful means about 6-7 big sprigs) (tie them in a bunch with some butcher twine - pictured below)

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock

1/3 cup fresh Lemon Thyme leaves (or regular Thyme leaves)

1/4 cup fresh Lemon juice (more if using regular Thyme)

Directions:

(1) Season (both sides) of the raw chicken with sea salt and black pepper.

(2) Heat oil in large heavy skillet (I use my dutch oven for this).

(3) Add the seasoned chicken to the skillet and brown on both sides until golden brown.

-Tips for browning chicken:

-I usually keep the heat to gas mark 8 (the high side of medium-high) - the pan has to be really hot otherwise the chicken won't brown, and will absorb a lot of the oil

-Be very careful whenever you are dealing with hot oil...it will most likely spit up at you when you put the chicken in.  Long kitchen tongs for putting the chicken in the skillet and for turning are a really great idea here

-Don't attempt to turn the chicken over if it won't release from the skillet.  If the chicken piece is sticking to the bottom of the pan (to the point where you have to dig and shred the chicken piece in order to release it) it's not ready to be turned.  Wait a couple of minutes and try again.  I usually find myself leaving a piece of chicken for 5-7 minutes on each side to get a good brown

Yummy seasoned & browned chicken...

(4) Remove the chicken from the skillet once it's brown;  set aside in a plate for later.

(5) Add onions to the skillet over medium-high heat.

-If the bits leftover in the pan from browning the chicken are black/burned (instead of being a rich brown) either wash the pot or get a new one.  You don't want to ruin your stew by adding a burned/charcoal taste to it...if you are going to use a new/clean pot to sweat the onions, add a tablespoon of oil or butter (I'd recommend butter) to the pot and let it warm up/melt before adding the onions)

Julienned Onions...Ready to sweat....

(6) Sweat the onions until they become translucent.

(7) Turn the heat to medium, add the garlic.

(8) Continue cooking until onions are golden (but not caramelized).

(9) Add the chicken, lemon thyme sprig bunch, bay leaf & 1/2 cup chicken stock to the pot.

Lemon Thyme sprigs...tied in a bunch with butcher twine....

(10) Stir well, making sure to get any bits up from the bottom of the pan.

(11) Turn the heat to medium-low, cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice.
                       -The stew should be gently simmering for the 30 minutes

(12) Remove cover.  Add lemon thyme leaves & lemon juice.  Cook for 5 minutes more.

(13) Remove from heat.  Remove the lemon thyme sprig bunch & the bay leaf.

(14) Taste for seasoning.

(15) Put the lid back on and let the stew sit covered for 10 minutes before serving.

Ready to serve!

Nutritional Information (for one serving - 1/5 of the final product):

Calories 472

Fat 10g

Carbs 10g

Fibre 1.4g

Protein 85g

WW Points 11

Happy Cooking!

French Farmhouse Cooking

Holy blog delay Batman!  (yes, I know I've said that before)....

This summer has been crazy-busy, but so much fun.  I've been to two destination weddings (Cancun and Denver), and there has been lots of fun times and food with friends and family. 

This post has been a long time coming.  My review of the French Farmhouse Cooking course I took. 

I really enjoyed this class.  The recipes were more on the 'rustic' side of cooking, with a lot of great one pot dishes.  I picked up a lot of useful information and even learned how to prepare a rabbit!  (I don't think I'll be doing that again for a while, but it was a good experience...).  This course was 6 weeks long.

Week 1: Introduction

This was a demonstration only class. 

We learned to make Tapenade aux Thon (a basic tuna tapenade), Anchoaide (people who like anchovies will like this), Canard Roti de la Belle Gasconne (roasted duck) with Pommes de Terres au Romarin Cuites au Four (roasted potatoes with rosemary - even though I am not a big fan of duck, these potatoes were roasted in duck fat which made them melt-in-your-mouth amazing), Prunes Farcis (prunes stuff with blue cheese), and Gougeres (a neutral puff, which can be used to make cheese puffs).  These are the same puffs that are used to make Croquembouche (which is one of those things that I would love to learn how to make one day). 

Croquembouche....picture c/o fine cooking...

Week 2:

This week we learned how to make Salad a L'Endive du Paludier (Salt Raker's salad - a Belgian endive salad with olive oil, salt and pepper) and Le Poisson du Paludier (Salt Rakers fish - which is fish baked in a salt crust).  The lab for this class was Porc Cuit au Lait (braised pork in milk - a dish that reflects the cuisine of Normandy).  It was great served with apples and watercress.  Echalotes Braisees (braised shallots) was also part of the lab in this class.  The shallots were sautéed with white wine, thyme and bay leaves which really brought out the mildly sweet flavours of these little onions. 

Week 3:

Rabbit week. 

Before this class, I had never actually ate rabbit before.  I do have a wild rabbit that runs around our backyard named 'Bunny' (yes, I know, it's not very original)….let’s just say that this was one of those situations where I really had to mentally separate the live animal from the one that I was going to eat/cook with.   

Tarte au Chevre (goat cheese tart) was demonstrated in this class.  It was a goat cheese tarte with leeks and cumin.  This recipe was fantastic. 

Salade de Cresson et de Betteraves aux Noix (watercress, beet and walnut salad) was also demonstrated. 

Rabbit with Sorrel was part of the lab for this class.  It was a rabbit stew with bacon and sorrel leaves.  Apart from the fact that I learned a whole lot about preparing rabbit, I wasn't a huge fan of the sorrel – it’s a little too sour/bitter for me. 

Carrots with Juniper Berries were also part of the lab.  This was a great recipe to learn the correct way to glaze a carrot (yes, there is an incorrect way to glaze a carrot....it usually involves some variation of making the glaze first and then adding cooked carrots). 

Week 4:

This week we learned how to make the national dish of the Basque people....Piperade.  It's a tomato, green pepper and ham stew which is thickened with an egg.  It looks like vomit when it's all put together, but it tastes so good...especially with some crusty fresh bread. 

Poulet au Thym Citronne was part of the lab for this week.  It's Chicken with Lemon and Thyme.  It's easy and amazing.  This recipe makes use of something called 'lemon thyme'....which I just happen to have growing in my garden every summer.  Apparently, if you don't have access to lemon thyme, it's possible to combine fresh lemon and fresh thyme over night to make lemon thyme.  This is something I plan on trying out...

Confit de Tomates (melted tomatoes) and Pistou (vegetable soup with basil and garlic) were also part of this lab. 

Week 5:

Morue Basquaise (Basque style cod) was part of the lab for this class and is one of my new favourite recipes for fish.  It's white fish (cod, halibut or tilapia) baked in a red pepper, leek and plum tomato sauce.  Super easy and tasty.  Confit de Poivrons Doux a l"ail (slow cooked red peppers and tomatoes) and Salade de Pet Sai (napa cabbage salad) was also part of the lab for this class.  These were both good side dishes.  Moules au Cidre (mussels in cider) is part of the demo in this class.

Week 6:

Asparagus aux Deux Sauces (asparagus with two sauces) was demonstrated in this class.  The first sauce is a cream sauce with chives and the second sauce was a mayonnaise mustard sauce with lemon.   These are then served with poached chilled asparagus.

Gigot a la Sauge (roast lab with sage) and Haricot Verts aux Oignons (green beans with onions) were part of the lab for this class. 

I really enjoyed this class.  The instructor was incredibly knowledgeable and was able to break down the recipes to ensure that we understood the principles behind French Farmhouse cooking. 

Happy Cooking!