This is the modern World - Panasonic microwave oven · Sunday May 4, 2008 by colin newell
We just got our first microwave oven. No really. The sales guy (aged about 60) at the Victoria Sears sales center in appliances was incredulous.
I may as well have suggested that a legion of vacuum cleaner shaped electro-beasts from the Planet Zontar were disembarking onto the parking lot…
And were they angry.
Seriously though. As shopping goes, there are few Men that shop faster than I do.
Recently I selected new frames in an optical place… within 7.2 seconds.
Which begs the question: At that speed of visual acquisition, did I really need new glasses?
Fair enough – I did some online research and determined that this particular model of Panasonic microwave (in stainless-steel, 1.2 cubic feet, 1200 Watts, etc) was the right one for us. And I was in and at the counter talking to sales-guy within a minute – and ordering one within 2 minutes.
“Would you like to order one”, he asked, somewhat skeptical of my technological lineage…
“Yes, but first I need to consult with my C.F.O on this newfangled…” now gesturing towards my Motorola RAZR, “…wireless device!”
“Oh. You have one of those… How bold! …he improvised.
Long story short – We now have a device that will help us save lots of electricity. We do almost 100% of our cooking from scratch. No pre-prepared anything – and very few tins. And being able to do tertiary stuff beside our regular electric grill will be very useful.
Oh yea – while I was at the mall for this purchase, my wife asked me to pop into Bolen Books and size up some good microwave cook books.
I might as well have been looking for a basic Pet Rock users manual or the latest step-by-step guide to Disco dancing. Microwave cook books, it seem, went out of print around the advent of MTV and are about as fashionable as polyester stretch pants.
But I found one microwave cook book, at our Chapters Book Store (your Barnes and Noble)… printed in England… about 20 years ago.
With timely recipes like; Leek terrine with deli meats, Pork Crumble, Herby Baked Tomatoes, and Austrian nut pudding…
So this is what the Brits ate during the last great war!
In addition to this cook book and appliance, I now need a historic culinary translator.
One thing at a time.
Look forward to more food oriented blogs on this website (as time permits).
In all fairness, the cookbook is titled The Microwave Kitchen Handbook by Carol Bowen first printed in 1998. Bon Apetit!
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The Conversation Series - Part one - food on the table · Sunday April 20, 2008 by colin newell
In a continuing series on food, at home and abroad, we talk to the food and drink celebrities of Victoria B.C. Canada.
Mark Engels, owner-partner and baker of Bubby Roses Bakery in Victoria is angry and frustrated… but in a good way.
Because when you own one of a handful of good bakeries in a city of over 200,000 hungry souls, every little thing you do can make a big difference.
Like keeping good food on your neighbors table and in their pantry…
And according to Mark… It’s challenging.
“Let’s put it this way… we are often at the mercy of a finicky and misinformed media…” Mark quips.
“Media”, I query? “What does the media have to do with this?”
Judging by Mark’s reaction, I have just tossed a cinder into the black powder box.
“I was on the radio this week…” Mark volunteers…
“And…?”, I cower behind a big bowl of Vegetarian Chili in one very crowded Bubby Rose bakery.
“CFAX… with Joe Easingwood and the gang… with a variety of the cities bakers… and we were talking about the scene, you know… prices, the challenges, inflation… and someone asks me about Butter Tarts… Butter tarts no less. Yea, we make them…” I introject.
“Butter tarts?”, you are losing me quickly Mark.
Mark continued unabated, “And one of the media types in the studio blurts out… Thrifty’s makes Butter Tarts you know!“
Ah. The penny drops. Hard. On my foot. Damn ten pound penny.
Thrifty Foods is one of the many appendages of the Sobey Food empire… and
Thrifty Foods is in many local corporate partnership – strategic alliances… the media behemoth that owns CFAX is one of them.
Hence the cheesy product placement.
What leads to our point. When you are a teeny-weeny independent baker trying to put food on tables and stay in business, the last thing you need are media dork-sticks dropping product placement bombs in the middle of, what was up to that point, a meaningful conversation on being the little guy trying to serve the community while those much bigger players on the block are trying to squash you.
As the bakery continues to hum louder, the stinging irony is not lost on either of us.
According to Mark, we shouldn’t write off the little guy yet. Without small bakeries, like Bubby Roses, Victoria residents could well be unwrapping their goodies just shipped in from Ontario, or worse… the U.S. of A
And right now and as of late, bakeries all over the place are feeling the pinch of higher prices… significantly higher prices on staples like flour, rice and vegetable oils… etc.
And the other scary point is – if we in food rich Canada are feeling the sting of inflation, Mark and I can only imagine what life is like in the developing nations.
Scary thoughts indeed.
In a continuing series on the food scene here and out there, we will talk to the little pieces in the puzzle – the players that keep the food on your table.
Head over to Part Two in this series.
Variations on Alton Brown's Pressure cooker chili · Sunday March 30, 2008 by colin newell
Here is a subtle variation on Alton Brown’s classic which we cook up once every couple of months – it freezes well and makes a super hot hot lunch entree! Recipe easily doubles for a larger group!
Primary variation – Use a stock or stewing pot – Pressure cooker not needed.
1 pounds Sirloin tip or lesser grade of beef (or pork… or Tofu)
2 tablespoons Canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 bottle of beer, medium pale ale
1 (16-ounce) container hot salsa
30 tortilla chips (really! 30… not 29 or 31!)
1/2 cup chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 medium onions – chopped
1 Yellow pepper chopped
1 Red pepper chopped
1 small Zucchini
1 large Pablano pepper chopped
2 Anaheim peppers chopped
1 chopped Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers (be VERY, VERY careful with these peppers! There is a real risk of burning or blistering if your skin comes in direct contact with the seeds or chopped pepper flesh.)
OPTION A: 2 medium carrots shredded (adds sweetness!)
OPTION B: Add 1 or 2 tinned drained high quality chick peas and reduce or eliminate the red meat.
Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and toss with the Canola oil and salt. Set aside.
Heat a 4-quart steel pot over high heat until hot. Add the meat in 3 or 4 batches and brown on all sides, approximately 2 minutes per batch. Once each batch is browned, place the meat in a clean large bowl.
Once all of the meat is browned, add the beer to the pot to deglaze the pot.
Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Put in onions, yellow and red peppers, zucchini and carrots (or option of chick peas) to brown for around 5 to 7 minutes.
Add Pablano and Anaheim chopped peppers – cooking an additional 5 minutes
Add the meat back to the pot along with the salsa, tortilla chips, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, and ground cumin and stir to combine. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Serve immediately with cold beer and more corn chips on the side.
Depending upon how hot your salsa and chilis are will dictate how much of a sweat you will work up – add sour cream to serving for the more delicate among you!
Link to original Alton Brown recipe.
updated August 2014
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident and roaming food and drink freelance journalist – has been writing online since 1994
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Victoria B.C. best French Toast · Sunday February 3, 2008 by colin newell
If you have not stopped by Bubby Roses Bakery Cafe on Cook Street, near Meares Avenue (Fort Street), you have to ask yourself one question…
“Do you feel lucky? Well, do you?”
Ok. Wrong breakfast place fantasy I guess.
Bubby Roses Bakery cafe makes the best French Challah Toast in the known Universe… or Victoria B.C. Canada. I tried yet another serving of this (dish) yesterday (Saturday) morning while contemplating the thickness of the Earth’s crust and talking story with Bubby Roses creator/enforcer Mark Engels.
Mark’s OCD attention to detail is startling to watch (and somehow satisfying) if you are a customer… or in my case a customer paying attention. Truth is, most people that hang out in Cafes and Bakeries are not paying near enough attention if you ask me.
Anyway.
Bubby Roses Challah French toast is so perfect and light that it is hard to tell whether it is French toast or a light soufflé. Two brick sized pieces of Challah bread are surrounded by small bowls of Organic Maple Syrup and Organic Yoghurt – and the bread is hemmed in by a phalanx of blueberries and bananas.
This stuff has been soaking all night in the egg wash – so it is absolutely saturated prior to being grilled.
It is absurdly tasty and satisfyingly filling. Eat this at 9AM and you should not have to eat again for 5 hours.
To quote Jack Bauer from 24:
Go to Bubby Roses! Go there NOW!
Eat the Challah French Toast! Eat it NOW!
Hey. if Jack says so.
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