Monday, December 28, 2009

After completing a business degree, traveling around Asia for a brief stint, and taking some time to familiarize himself with the French language, a young British Columbian by the name of Sean Aiken decided to not decide. On a career, that is. Rather, taking his obvious love for travel and meeting new people, he set out across Canada and the United States on a treasure hunt to find a job he could engage in passionately.

After working one job a week for 52 weeks, and being picked up by major broadcasting giants such as CBC, Rachel Ray, Good Morning America, Sean scored a book deal with Random House, has a documentary in the making on his experiences, and has achieved what practically every Generation "Y-er" has to come to terms with - the capability to deal with constant and rapid change.

My boyfriend is a friend of Sean's, from fall 2007, when they both spent their time romping around Quebec City, singing Bob Marley in the Francais Langue Seconde chorus, and making a concerted effort to learn Quebecois French.

At some point last May 2009, while I was interning with a diversity expert in Toronto, and Dan in a music classroom back in Quebec City, Sean gave Dan a ring to see if he would proofread all the bits and pieces he had tied together from his yearlong experience. Of course Dan agreed and took great pleasure in editing and making commentary on the new author's work. For his labour, Sean told Dan to take his lady friend (that being me) out for a meal the next time I came up to Quebec City for a visit.

Seven months after the Mediterranean burger (gluten-free with no bun), fries (with no flour coating, and no contaminants in the oil), pesto mayonnaise and garden salad at Chez Victor, complimented with a half-litre of red and a conversation about self-discovery and fulfillment, Dan showed me the cover of One Week Job - 1 man. 1 year. 52 jobs, which is due to be released this spring, 2010. Of course, this got me thinking about creativity, challenges, and optimism in a world where most youngsters in our generation have between 7 and 12 jobs over the course of their lifetime.

The aforementioned adjectives are crucial to remember when cooking gluten-free cuisine.

Creativity, the ability to be clever and imaginative, unique and inspirational, bold, keen and passionate while pursuing the task at hand is what motivates me most when it comes to food. Trial and tribulation has taught me that when you're confused as to what to make for dinner because nothing in your fridge and cupboards seem to match up that well, you survey your options, think about flavour combination, and dive off the deep end. Sure, 9 times out of 10, your creation is kinda gross (place the leftover thai tofu soup, bitter because you accidentally added too much lime rind in the freezer, along with the dry banana buckwheat muffins and send away with long-distance boyfriend when he visits. Make sure to add some good homemade pesto so he doesn't think you're dumping all the reject recipes on his pallet) - but the 10th time, you've succeeded and it's AWESOME! Note to generation X-ers - apply this formula to school and employment. If we switch programs a few times, don't blame us. If we can't figure out what we want to do work-wise, it's not our fault. If we emerge in our mid-thirties a little weary, with some debt and no children, but our tummies are happy and full, we're still looking brightly forward.

Kristen's "I don't have any tomato sauce, but I just bought a pepper grinder" Pasta:

2 cups of gluten free pasta (spirals work nicely)
1 box worth of mushrooms (the fresh ones, people. Don't think I mean from a can)
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red onion
three cloves of garlic
4 cups fresh baby spinach
Feta Cheese
A handful of chopped green olives
5 diced sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice of one lemon
LOTS of coarsely cracked pepper

Saute all the veggies together, on a medium heat, starting with the onion and the garlic. Add fresh pepper as you go along, as well as a little olive oil and a quarter of the lemon.

Cook your pasta, insuring that you add a bit of vegetable oil so it doesn't stick together. Gluten free pasta is sneaky, appearing uncooked, uncooked, uncooked and then suddenly overcooking when you're not looking. After about 6 minutes of letting it boil, be sure to check it every minute.

Toss pasta in with cooked vegetables, remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Add generous (copious, even) amounts of feta cheese. Add olives and sundried tomatoes. Crack desired amount of black pepper over the pasta, and serve.

This dish is really excellent if you make it 24 hours in advance, and let it sit before heating it up and serving it. All the flavours make love to one another, and pick your tongue as an alter for their marriage.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

From Vieux Port to Le Petit Patrie
up Atwater to NDG
Along Jean-Talon, down Le Plateau,
Feet and feet and feet of snow!

Come young, come old, come big, come small
Winter is here in Montreal!
Grab your down-filled, fur-trimmed jacket
Go outside and make a racket!

Take a look down Cartier
See those creaking branches sway?
Winter's here, she's long, she's cold
Extremely bitter and mighty bold

And for this boundless, drawn-out season
We can create a million reasons
To come together, preheat our ovens
Absorb ourselves in home-baked lovin!

Prepare our friends, arrange our kitchens
Brace ourselves for this wild mission
Millet, quinoa, teff and corn
A gluten-free creation's born!

Amaranth, sorghum, brown rice flour
Cookies and cakes with patience and power
Be sure to use a binding force
Xanthan gum, ground fine, not coarse!

Be adventurous, 'tis the season
Adapt the tradition with rhyme and reason!
From matzo balls to naan with ghee
We can do it, gluten-free!

Ah yes, it's true. The winter season arrived last week in Montreal in full force. After a mild and rainy November, we awoke last Sunday to flurries and temperatures of minus twenty with the windchill. We danced around the house, made chili with cornbread and gingerbread houses (ahem... shanty towns... it was the first time), and rejoiced while watching the snow fall gently, dressing tree branches and covering the remains of the De Lorimier/Gilford communal garden.

What a beautiful time of year. With that being said, winter can be somewhat of a polarizing quarterly interval. Quebecers, generally speaking, love outdoor winter activities, warm drinks and woolly Alpaca sweaters. But we also detest shoveling our steep, winding staircases and having to pay obscene amounts of money to Hydro Quebec for heat every two months.

However, I find one major motivator in storing energy and maintaining a positive attitude during the days where only 10 hours of sunshine reach us is creating, smelling, slicing, buttering and savouring scrumptious and delectable homemade baked goods. But baking is no easy feat when you lose the ability to use wheat flour. In fact, baking gluten free is like watching a little kid make their first snowman - no matter how meticulous they are in the prodding, the molding, the shaping and the placing, it might topple right over fifteen minutes after the creation is complete.

Never assume that substitutes are duplicates. Powder snow is not the same as packing snow. Aldo summer sandals are not the same as Birkenstocks. Coffee from Tim Horton's is not a Second Cup brew. Wheat flour is NOT the same as rice flour. If you see a gluten-free baking mixture with only rice flour and potato starch, DO NOT BUY. Save your $6.50 for the Birkenstocks next summer.

Save your sanity too, and try this amazing shortbread recipe we've been making to compliment tea in the mornings. If you have a gluten tolerant person in the house, you can also simply substitute wheat flour for gluten-free flour. But don't be surprised when they can't tell the difference!!

Cream one pound unsalted butter with one cup packed brown sugar

Blend in 4 cups of gluten free flour mixture (El Peto all-purpose works in a pinch), 1 cup of gluten-free corn starch (most brands are gluten free, but you can always check on the Internet, or call the company), and 1/4 teaspoon salt

Chill for a short while (half an hour), and then divide the dough in half

Pat to one-inch circle with hands

Cut with cookie cutters, sprinkle with desired decorative sugars

Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes - do not brown.