Monday 30 June 2014
School's out and I've been enjoying every moment of summer. Last week I made ice cream on live TV. Yes really, and if you don't believe me the proof, they say is in the pudding (ok, ok, that was a bad pun)... right here.
CTV Morning Live
The ice cream was pretty good, and you can find the recipe for the Saffron and Rosewater Kulfi here.
Now back to the mangoes. Yes, this is another mango post, but no apologies. There's probably just about one week or so, of mango season left, and I am taking full advantage of it. Every summer it feels like this blog gets a theme... two summers ago, it was ice cream, last year popsicles ruled and this year it seems to be cocktails.
My mango lime margaritas were a huge success, and so my friend Jamie, also known as Cook With Sumo, came up with this brilliant idea of making mango sangria, a riff on his recipe for peach sangria. Knowing me and fruity cocktails, I was all over this one [Jamie disowned it after I tinkered with this recipe, so I've been told to include this disclaimer :)]
Jamie's original version included peach schnapps or peach brandy, but I happened to have lychee liqueur in my cupboard (don't ask!) so I used it instead. Must admit it was pretty delicious in this sangria.
Friday 27 June 2014
Credits: Pascal Ratthé, reproduced with permission from Cavalia.
If you live in Edmonton, you can't have missed all the advertising for Cavalia's newest production, Odysseo. I am hugely thrilled to be partnering with them in several ways over the next few weeks. I'll be doing a behind-the-scenes look at the production, from the point of view of a food blogger, which I am really chuffed about.
To kick off all the excitement, I have a fabulous giveaway to all my readers based in Edmonton (and those willing to travel here for the show.) One lucky winner will win two tickets to a showing of Odysseo, on a date of their choice (depending on availability).
Check out the rules below. I have created a Rafflecopter giveaway, and you have a few ways to enter. The giveaway runs until the 9th of July, and the winner will be notified then. The Cavalia box office will be in touch to confirm your show choice if you are the winner.
Good luck!
Friday 20 June 2014
The day I discovered elderflower cordial is probably one of the best days of my life. I was at a summer picnic, hosted by one of my professors in his beautiful house in the English countryside. It was a hot, sunny summer day, one of those gorgeous days that, as every Brit knows, come only once in a blue moon. Prof's garden backed out on to lovely, green, cool woods, and it was like every single one of my memories of all those English storybooks I read as a kid come alive.
Everyone was outside in the garden. The table was loaded with cakes, summer strawberries, cream, small sandwiches and (I got wickedly excited when I saw this) ginger beer. There were also pitchers of elderflower cordial, and the first time I tried this fragrant, floral, tangy, quintessentially British drink, I was hooked.
And, to make things even better, one of my absolute favourite British chefs comes up with this. No stopping me now.
Monday 9 June 2014
The original coronation chicken is a classic fifties' style British salad that, in my humble opinion, deserved to be brought back... and quickly. When the Turkey Farmers of Canada gave me my May/ June brief, they asked for a salad, and I knew almost immediately that I was going to be riffing on this very delicious, lightly spiced salad that I was addicted to during my time in England.
Coronation salad has an interesting history. It was originally created by Rosemary Hume, the co-founder of the famous Constance Spry Cordon Bleu School of Cookery in London. The recipe was developed in 1953 in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and was served at the royal banquet. Food historians believe that the recipe was riffed off another, older recipe for 'Silver Jubilee Chicken', a creation of curry, mayonnaise and cold chicken, served in 1935 at the banquet for George V. It was updated again for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, but that version never eclipsed the original. The recipe for coronation salad first appears in Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume's classic 1956 tome, 'The Constance Spry Cookery Book', and is still found in revised editions of this book.
The problem with coronation salad is the incredibly terrible versions that were sold in supermarkets in soggy sandwiches. Its enough to put anyone off this salad. However, I went back to the original recipe, and the first time I made it, I was shocked at how different it tasted to the cardboard versions I was used to to. It was sweet, tangy, with a delicate nutty flavour, and just the lightest touch of heat in the end. I could immediately see why this salad was a huge hit when it was created.
Coronation salad has an interesting history. It was originally created by Rosemary Hume, the co-founder of the famous Constance Spry Cordon Bleu School of Cookery in London. The recipe was developed in 1953 in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, and was served at the royal banquet. Food historians believe that the recipe was riffed off another, older recipe for 'Silver Jubilee Chicken', a creation of curry, mayonnaise and cold chicken, served in 1935 at the banquet for George V. It was updated again for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, but that version never eclipsed the original. The recipe for coronation salad first appears in Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume's classic 1956 tome, 'The Constance Spry Cookery Book', and is still found in revised editions of this book.
The problem with coronation salad is the incredibly terrible versions that were sold in supermarkets in soggy sandwiches. Its enough to put anyone off this salad. However, I went back to the original recipe, and the first time I made it, I was shocked at how different it tasted to the cardboard versions I was used to to. It was sweet, tangy, with a delicate nutty flavour, and just the lightest touch of heat in the end. I could immediately see why this salad was a huge hit when it was created.
Monday 2 June 2014
One of the saddest times in my life is always the end of mango season. Growing up in India, mangoes were synonymous with summer, and school holidays, and the end of season meant the inexorable approach of the monsoon rains and school starting up again. It was not all bad. We had probably eaten several times our body weight in mangoes by the end of summer. Any unripe mangoes were duly picked, sunned, pickled and preserved for the coming monsoons. The smell of spicy pickles was hard to get out of our skins, and even today, when I smell mustard oil, it takes me right back to those late summer days of sneaking half cured mango pickles out of large earthenware jars.
Luckily for me, I don't have to give up mangoes just yet. Despite the season for Alphonsos and Haden mangoes passing, Asian stores here are still well stocked with Ataulfos, which means I can enjoy the king of fruits for a little while longer. And enjoy them, I have. Every week, I am off with my giant grocery bag to the Indian stores (I have an 'in' with their produce guy, who tells me exactly when the mango shipments come in) I buy at least two to three dozen mangoes... which disappear in exactly a week, after which I am constantly reminded to make sure to go to the store for more. I think I may have created a monster mango family.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
