Boob job

If you’ve seen the movie Food Inc., you’ve likely been spending a bit of time wondering how the food you buy in the grocery store got there. I know I have and to help understand the process a bit better, I’ve been visiting as many food plants as I can persuade to let me in. Last week I visited the state-of-the-art plant operated by MacGregor’s Meats and Seafood in Woodbridge, Ontario where they have separate rooms devoted to processing chicken, fish and meat. I learned a lot there (I’ll be writing more about my visit in the weeks to come) but by far my favourite revelation was watching these technicians skillfully trim fresh chicken breasts.

I’m sure that if they were to tell their friends that they spend all day doing boob jobs that no one would envision this scene!

How do you buy your chicken? Whole, bone-in or cleaned and ready to cook?

Give thanks where it’s due

Restaurant meals often bring surprises with them. Unfortunately, it’s usually a bad surprise that blemishes your mealtime; however, every once in a while you get a fantastically wonderful surprise when you dine out. We had that experience recently at a little restaurant in our neighbourhood called Sweet Basil.

To be honest, we went there by default since it was a Monday and our first choice Asian restaurant, Mi Ne Sushi, was closed. We’ve been to Sweet Basil dozens of times and while it’s usually good, it has never been phenomenal until our last visit when we ordered the special Spicy Tamarind Atlantic Lobster pictured above.

It was absolutely fantastic and, get this, only $32 for the same amount of lobster that would be sold for $50 (or more) at any Toronto steakhouse.

When’s the last time you had a wonderful restaurant food experience? Did you send your compliments back to the cooks in the back? If not, why not?

Topline Trends Tuesday: The upward spiral of the butter tart

Regular readers of this blog will know that since last summer, I’ve been on a quest to unlock the secrets of the perfect butter tart. It’s been a winding road.

After presenting my preferred recipe for butter tarts I heard mostly accolades but a rebuff, too. One enraged woman recently wrote me an email claiming that my butter tarts were the very worst she had ever tried. Needless to say, she and I are not destined to be friends.

While butter tarts have always been a Canadian favourite, I’ve noticed them being debated and discussed more often during the last few months. Was it the proximity of Canada Day on the calendar that led food sleuth Marion Kane and CBC personality Jian Ghomeshi to discuss butter tart origins and lore on June 29th?  Regardless, their informative chat  can be enjoyed as a podcast.

Likewise, a new Toronto-based blog called Beer & Butter Tarts recently launched. Although it’s a bit shy on butter tart news so far, I’m holding out hope for full-on butter tart coverage on their cyber pages.

Another result of devoting so much time to the discussion of butter tarts is that many people have reached out to share their butter tart love with me. One of these people is Jules Kay, a retired mathematics teacher and the owner of Aftermath Pies. He visited our test kitchen a couple of weeks ago and brought us his very delicious butter tarts. Unlike my tarts, which have a very rich, flaky, lard-based crust, Jules’ perfectly gooey tarts have a firmer, compact crust that features vegetable shortening.

Jules was kind enough to share his pastry recipe with me so you can try it if you prefer a leaner, less fragile crust.

Jules “The Pieman”’s Original Dough Recipe

Ingredients – flour, salt, sugar, shortening, vinegar, and water.
Utensils – large mixing bowl, measuring cups for dry and liquid ingredients, measuring spoons, fork, plastic wrap, and a pastry blender (ONLY FOR THE UNADVENTUROUS).

Ingredients
Flour – white, all purpose - 5 1/2 cups
Salt - 1 teaspoon
White Sugar - 1 tablespoon
Shortening - 1 package (454 grams)
Vinegar (plus water) - 1 tablespoon
Cold Tap Water 1 1/3 cups when added to vinegar

• In a large mixing bowl, blend flour, salt, and sugar.
• In a measuring cup, add the vinegar and enough water to make 1 1/3 cups of liquid.
• Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles small peas. For those afraid to get dirty hands, use a pastry blender.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour/shortening and add all the water.
• Stir (DO NOT MASH) with a fork until the flour has absorbed all the water and the ball of dough sticks together.
• If the dough is still crumbly, keep stirring with the fork.
• Gather up the dough in a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, do not add more flour. Let it rest in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight. You will discover that the amount of water needed varies depending on the temperature and the humidity.
• Your dough is now ready for great tasting pies and tarts. If you intend to use the large (3-pound) tub then multiply the above quantities by 3. You might need a larger bowl.

Let’s celebrate!

Tomorrow is my birthday and for my present, I’d like to hear about your favourite birthday food treat. Do you love chocolate cake or prefer a perfect peach pie? Or, would you rather skip desserts and toast your day with an excellent bottle of champagne or an aged Bordeaux?

As a summer birthday girl, I’ve celebrated many years with light, fluffy cakes filled with whipped cream and berries. Although there are usually still local strawberries around on July 7th, my very fave is a classic Black Forest Cake. I even have a dream to someday sample one just like Heston Blumenthal featured on his BBC television show.

Cupcakes are another favourite of mine and selecting those little yummies for my birthday treat has a benefit for those around me. You see, I find that  eating one cupcake seems to lead to eating another. So, if I have a dozen on hand, my mouth will be full all day. And, since a full mouth is a quiet mouth that can’t complain about wrinkles, spare tires and other disappointments that come with advancing age,  me gorging on cupcakes makes everyone happy!

Now it’s your turn. Tell me what food you enjoy on your birthday.

BTW, photo credit once again goes to the lovely and talented Tracy Cox.

Party invitations

So, it’s summer and we’re all a little broke but that doesn’t mean we should give up on having a good time, does it? No siree! Even if you can’t afford to treat your pals to strip loin steaks and a grand cru wine, you can still make them feel special.

I found these fun invitations in the party section at the dollar store. The idea is that you open them up and add a message outlining the party details; next, reseal the bottles and deliver one to each of the people on your guest list. What a great way to get a summer party off to a festive start!

Do you have any cheap and cheerful party planning tips and techniques to share?