Foodies, Bloggers, Life!

I recently finished my eighth course at George Brown College in Toronto in Culinary Arts, with one more to take to complete my Culinary Arts certification.

This is a matter of personal pride and also an amazing journey over the last couple of years,with Saturday or Sunday afternoons or for that matter Saturday morning jaunts into Toronto to attend class.


The journey has provided me with a huge amount of enjoyment, knowledge and joy along the way. I have made some good new friends and acquaintances and really learnt to appreciate some of the Chefs teaching at GBC. I have yet to have a bad experience.
The stern but immensely likeable Anne-Marie S., Frank T. the friendly giant, Patrick J. with his deadpan delivery of his jokes, Gerry M. with his enthusiasm, and the very animated and very funny Ian D. A really wonderful group of teachers and Chefs.

I have learnt the elegant simplicity of making pasta from scratch with the amount of variety that portends, agnolotti anyone.

I have confirmed my understanding and expanded my techniques for a number of dishes as well as filleting both flat and round fish and cooking them for their best results, I have also learnt and appreciated how delicate a fish mackerel is to fillet.

A fully de-boned chicken, stuffed and roasted is a joyous Sunday supper item, and family favourite.

My appreciation of French cuisine has been heightened and my understanding of how a mother sauce can create many beautiful daughters substantially enhanced.

In the interim I have also been trying my hand at baking. I have always baked; though my frustrations with this branch of cooking has more to do with the strictures or constraints. In baking the opportunity to be as creative on the fly isn't as great in my opinion, because baking is much more science. That's never stopped me ; but I find it less inviting.

Nonetheless I have started trying my hand at making bread specifically the challah style(milk, egg& sugar as base ingredients) braided loaves. My two attempts thus far have yielded improving results, with the second time around a better success. Part of this interest has been fuelled by seeing the New Diva of British Cooking, and ex-model Lorraine Pascale doing her stuff.


Both my son and myself immediately loved her on seeing the first episode of her UK show, Baking Made Easy (I also obtained the book from Amazon UK in short order).

I am still keen on charcuterie and there is so much more I would like to undertake/experience in this area; though I haven't moved as far forward in as I would like.


Part of the issue has been time (2010 was one of my busiest years from a professional and personal perspective, with much weekend travel related to the latter).

Likely the fact that I haven't accquired a proper curing chamber for my further adventures in charcuterie is another reason.

However I have had the joy of finding some other blindingly capable non-professional cooks on line that inspire me. The biggest of those is Matt Wright at WRIGHTFOOD, a transplanted Brit living in Seattle that's cooks elegantly with locally sourced produce and provides high quality pictorials and videos of his work. Did I mention that he is also very big into Charcuterie (and shoes, two loves we both share).

This guy is really, really very good and is generous to a fault on his blog with info, recipes and sharing his experience.

In addition I have started to develop a friendship with another foodie and blogger with immense style and passion, that makes for brilliant conversation. Check her out at The Indulgent Foodie. Brilliant!

The possibilities are expansive as me move into spring and the mood lightens up and we start to get open markets. I see steamed new potatoes with a dill and sweet butter dressing served with poached salmon and a lovely saffron aioli, with a nice crisp sauvignon blanc just on the horizon. Bring it on baby!

Homecooking......

I cook and have done so for some time. Part of it has to do with my upbringing.
As the eldest of five and with a single parent, I learnt to cook early. Its amazing but cheese on toast with baked beans for 5 seemed back then as challenging as a putting out a beautiful roast rack of lamb with a potato pave, petit pois with carmelised shallots and a nice jus.
Furthermore my very first job and then the jobs that were to follow exposed me to the delights of quality cooking and restuarnats both as client and coverage.

In recent times I have tried to take my knowledge base up, by enrolling at George Brown College for their Continuing Education Series, specifically in Culinary Arts. At the start of the year I did a 12 week course, and I am about to finish a 10 weeks course, with a three week course coming up that will focus my knife skills. That’s my compulsories and over the next 2 years, taking 6 electives will provide me with my Culinary Certification. I think it simply suggest that I have attended and should have garnered some know-how along the way.

From Canada Day

I had pretty good food knowledge going into my courses; but have found that the classes have elevated that base, primarily because it has helped establish a framework for my knowledge thus expanded my understanding, as I have made connections within my knowledge base as well as learning new stuff.

While I knew that I liked cooking, I didn’t appreciate to what extent until I started attending class and found myself as excited as an eight year old on Christmas morning each Saturday, as I gathered my knife roll and other accoutrements for my four hour session at George Brown College.

The interesting thing is that most folks seem to assume that I want to work in or run a restaurant. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I simply want to be able to cook superb meals at home for both my family and friends. I am not talking about simply cooking elegant meals either.

One of the things that I have found out over time is that as much as I enjoy an elegant meal, beautifully cooked and expertly presented, I am as keen or possibly keener when it comes to braised foods. Ultimately it’s the whole low and slow approach, whether BBQ-ing or braising.
Using a relatively cheap cut, good seasoning and the process of low and slow, it is transformed into something super delicious.

This was evidenced this morning at our office, as I had BBQ-ed a pork butt Canada Day and shared the goodness with my colleagues this morning with my home made tangy BBQ sauce. I have posted a few pikkies of the BBQ process on my Big Green Egg (BGE) and some others from items I have made. Enjoy!