Sniffle

Today's post was supposed to be the latest cookbook review, but the deities think otherwise.

As I sat for lunch, I could feel a little ache. By the two o'clock coffee my throat was a little tingly and by the time I left the office at the end of the day, my tongue was sour.

Meh.

On my way home I stopped off at one of the Chinese restaurants I like and picked up some hot and sour soup, egg rolls and pot stickers. After I took the soup's piccie I doctored it with chilli garlic sauce and black rice vinegar. Hoping to shake this whatever it is sooner rather than later. Probably overworked and underrested.

Meh.

So instead of being a sane person and crawling under covers, I started tidying...sorted out the kitchen, ran the chilli pepper (the vaccuum--it's very red) over the carpet in the TV temple and towered the books on the centre table. I can't be unwell in disarray--even when I was little(r) at the first sign of a cold, I'd break out the furniture spray and glass cleaner.

Meh.

So...instead of writing the review, I've decided to keep with the foodbookish theme and let you know which cookery books were nominated for the 2008 Canadian Culinary Book Awards--winners will be announced on 7 November at the Royal Winter Fair.

Short-listed in the English Cookbook Category:
Dish Entertains: everyday simple to special occasions by Trish Magwood (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., Toronto). Here's my review.

Fresh: seasonal recipes made with local foods by John Bishop and Dennis Green (Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver);

Wild Sweets Chocolate: sweet, savoury, bites, drinks by Dominique and Cindy Duby, (Whitecap Books Ltd., North Vancouver);


Short-listed in the English Special Interest Category, books about food, but not cookbooks:
In Bad Taste? The adventures and science behind food delicacies by Dr. Massimo Marcone (Key Porter Books, Toronto);

The 100-mile Diet: a year of local eating by Alisa Smith and J.R. MacKinnon (Random House Canada, Toronto).

Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health…and don’t forget the chocolate! by Liz Pearson and Marilyn Smith (Whitecap Books Ltd., North Vancouver);

Short-listed in the Canadian Food Culture Category, books that best illustrate Canada’s rich culinary heritage and food culture:
A Year at Les Fougères by Charles Part and Jennifer Warren-Part (Chelsea Books, Chelsea);

Icewine: extreme winemaking by Donald J.P. Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser (Key Porter Books, Toronto);

Menus from an orchard table: celebrating the food and wine of the Okanagan by Heidi Noble (Whitecap Books Ltd., North Vancouver).


Short-listed in the French Cookbook Category:
Apollo : ceci est un livre de cuisine by Giovanni Apollo (Les Éditions Transcontinental Inc., Montréal);

Serge Bruyère : ses recettes orginales et revisitées by Anne L. Desjardins, Project Coordinator and Author, (Les Éditions La Presse, Montréal);

Stefano Faita, entre cuisine et quincaillerie by Stefano Faita (Editions du Trécarré-Group Librex, Montréal).


Short-listed the French Special Interest Category, books about food but not cookbooks:
La chimie des desserts : tout comprendre pour mieux les réussir by Christina Blais and Ricardo (Les Éditions La Presse, Montréal) ;

La sélection Chartier 2008 by François Chartier (Les Éditions La Presse, Montréal) ;

Les vins du nouveau monde, Volume 1 by Jacques Orhon (Les Éditions de l’Homme, Montréal).

cheers!
jasmine

Appealing to my primal nature

There are fewer sounds more appealing than the sizzle of a steak as it touches searing metal.

My thoroughly carnivorous being immediately relaxes at that sound. My eyes brighten, I breathe deeply and I begin my euphoric ascent.

A really good meaty fat-ringed offering, unfetteredly prepared and accompanied by simple platemates, is the cure to many over-committed hours, long days, longer nights and pretty much anything else that dares to trod upon my time or psyche.

My past few weeks have been busy doing this and that and that and this. Sitting down and "just being" hasn't happened much...neither visiting (and commenting) on my favourite blogs or replying to most of my email (and yes, Linda, I saw your comment and I'll be visiting you soon!).

When life gets like this, I want easy, tasty and fast food--not necessarily fast food (even though my gullet has been reintroduced to it over the past couple of weeks). So today when I ran into the mediumscarygrocer's to pick up a few things, I perused the quick sale butcher's counter and found a tray of beautiful grilling steaks at half price, I knew what I'd have for dinner tonight: pepper steak.

This is a non-recipe recipe. Steaks dredged in a mixture of crushed black and Sichuan peppercorn and powdered mustard, garlic and onion with a bit of salt seared on my table-top grill. Very satisfying and very yummy.


cheers!
jasmine

The VGT Ominivore's Hundred

If you are a regular foodblog reader you've probably found one of the more than 3000 mentions about the VGT Omnivore's Hundred. The rules are simple...mark which of the 100 listed foods you've partaken in.

I think it's a great idea--by no means is the list supposed to be a be-all and end-all list of foods we must have--but it has a nice cross section of things to nibble on.

The way I've done it is to grey out the ones I've not eaten (can't figure out the strikethrough command), the bits in blue are things I won't have and what's in pink are my comments.

1. Venison

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari

12. Pho

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes (qualification: home grown tomatoes from harvested seeds)

22. Fresh wild berries (qualification: berries that weren’t obtained from a shop, but from friends’ (and strangers’) yards)

23. Foie gras

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn, or head cheese (nope, won't try this)

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Oysters

29. Baklava

30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (separately: yes, together: no)

33. Salted lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (I have a dim memory of this from my uni days)

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects

43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Fugu

47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Abalone

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV (so close: I’ve had 7.5 per cent ABV)

59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. Kaolin (qualification: in the form of freshly picked fruit/veggies that haven’t been washed)

64. Currywurst

65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (comment:: Hey! What about beaver tails?!)

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette

71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini (qualification: not at the same time)

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum

82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

It's not a meme, but if you want to participate, here are the rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

cheers!
jasmine