Alberta | — Catherine —Van Brunschot

Passion for Perigord

Posted on February 21, 2018February 21, 2018 by cvanbrunschot

Chefs Fudge and Meret depart Château Montastru — Photo credit – Steve Dunk

It’s 9:30 am and I’m elbow-deep in foie gras in a château in southwest France. Not literally to the elbows, mind you, but I’m as up-close-and-personal as I’m likely to get, thrilled and terrified in equal measure as I tease vascular tissue free from the prized duck liver. Despite the cooling armour of the castle’s thick walls, the foie gras seems to be melting under my fingers and I’m beginning to sweat. My mentor, Chef Thierry Meret, reassures me with his usual bonhomie – and a shot of plum brandy.

Read the full story in the Winter 2018 Issue of Taste & Travel International magazine.

Leftovers Black Box Challenge – Week 4: The Excuse

Posted on February 7, 2018January 25, 2018 by cvanbrunschot

I had great plans for this week. Multiple leftovers challenges to address in my fridge.

But in the same way that life can derail even the best-laid plans to use up all the food we bring home, life has conspired to take me away from my kitchen.

It’s family commitments that are calling – both delightful and less so. But the upshot is that I have to take an early hiatus from this blog series. I’m not quite sure when I’ll return.

Hit the FOLLOW button on the sidebar if you want to get a notice when I’m back.

DO keep sending me your leftovers conundrums, questions, and tips. I love to hear about your challenges and triumphs with your own Black Box.

Cheers ’til later,

Catherine

Leftovers Black Box Challenge – Week 2: Slaying your Dragons

Posted on January 24, 2018January 20, 2018 by cvanbrunschot

They’re B-A-A-A-C-K!

Ataulfo mangoes. They popped up this week in the supermarket, drawing my hand like bears to honey. Their flesh was supple, their scent sweet. Need I tell you that some of them ended up in my kitchen?

Those of you who have been following me for awhile will know of my irrational weakness for ataulfo mangos. The fragrant golden fruits with their parrot-beak tops have become symbolic to me of all those impulsive purchases I’ve made at the grocery store or the farmers’ market with no plan as to how I’m going to use them. They’re one of those things at high risk to shrivel away before I figure something out. (Bet you know what yours are!)

But no worries. This week the mangoes disappeared quickly. One made it into a refreshing Mango Cucumber salad taught to me by Josefina Gonzalez Luigi of Cocina con Alma cooking school in Cozumel. The others morphed into a creamy mango pudding from a Dairy Farmers of Canada ad lifted from a long-forgotten magazine.

They reminded me, though, of the importance of knowing my weaknesses and preparing a line of defence for them. ( See #4 of my Food Lover’s Real Life Guide to Reducing Food Waste – City Palate, Nov/Dec 2017). I’ve learned to keep a stash of recipes for the things I know I’ll buy on impulse – and also for the things I throw out most often.

But how to build this arsenal?

I’m a big reader of food magazines (no surprise there), so I routinely rip out recipes. Those that address my particular nemeses get filed away where I can find them when crisis calls.

Of course, an online search will also offer up a legion of solutions to the ingredient conundrum – with the bonus that they might take me to new culinary frontiers. Unfortunately, exploring those frontiers for new treasure can be a rabbit hole from which there’s no definite return, neither of time nor reward. Poorly-construed recipes abound on the web, so unless I’ve got the experimentation time to discover a new favourite food blogger who speaks to my heart, I stick to reputable sources that multi-test their recipes. Any “keepers” get filed on my laptop where I can find them, or printed off to join the rest of my stash.

These days a trip to the virtual or brick-and-mortar bookstore will reveal a cornucopia of titles focused on a single ingredient or a single food category (the public library catalogue is a great resource, too). My favourites include Sharon Hanna’s and Carol Pope’s The Book of Kale & Friends – great for dispatching an abundance of kale (obviously) as well as garden herbs – and Julie Van Rosendaal’s Out of the Orchard – indispensable for tackling those flats of Okanagan fruit that sing so loudly from farmers’ market stalls.

Market-based cookbooks can also be a great reference for addressing food waste vulnerabilities. Two valuable new titles that made it to my shelf in 2017 include Chef Lynn Crawford’s Farm to Chef: Cooking through the Seasons and David Tanis’ hefty tome, Market Cooking.

But, no, the mangos were not a problem this week. Leftover spinach was my Achilles’ heel instead. And based on the responses I’ve received from many of you, tired greens are your frequent problem-child as well.

Fortunately, my leafy-greens armoury is a stout one. And I’ve learned to view every dish as a possible repository for foliage. Greens thrown on sandwiches. Tucked into tacos. Stirred into soup. Or curry. Or eggs. Or stirfries.

Let’s not forget that, sautéed with a few spices or a handful of favourite garnishes, they can make a tasty side dish on their own. My first sampling of the Sautéed Kale Salad at the former Ox & Angela’s restaurant in Calgary (now Ox Bar de Tapas) made me a firm believer in that. Consider combinations like these with whatever greens you have on hand (and a little garlic to amp up the flavour):

half a jar of roasted peppers or sundried tomatoes; garnished with goat cheese;
shallots or red onions fried with bacon or pancetta;
yellow onions sizzled with cayenne; topped with sesame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil.

My favourite go-to is perhaps the easiest: swiss chard fried up with garlic, salt, and hot pepper flakes and served with a squeeze of lemon.

The biggest trick is to leave the container of greens front-row-centre in my fridge where I won’t forget it. I almost lost track of mine this week after a couple of lacklustre side salads. But I scavenged it in time, and the remainder anchored a nutrient-dense frittata served up for my supper with some good bread.

Here’s the frittata recipe that saved the day (with a basic egg-and-cheese base into which you can dump pretty much anything). Feel free to add it to your personal leafy-green recipe arsenal.

And if you’ve got some great strategies of your own, please do share (at the bottom of this post). Or write to me with your biggest leftovers millstones and I’ll address them in future posts if I can.

In the meantime, keep a steady eye on your Black Box – and watch for me next week.

SPINACH FRITTATA

Serves 4

1 Tbsp (15 ml) butter or vegetable oil

1/2 cup (125 ml) onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

6-8 handfuls of baby spinach (if you have less, that’s fine)

Pinch of nutmeg

Egg Mixture

8 eggs

1/4 cup (50 ml) milk

1/2 tsp (2 ml) salt (use less if your cheese is salty)

Black pepper to taste

1-2 cups (250-500 ml) of your choice of cheese(s)

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease a 9-inch (23 cm) glass pie plate and place on a baking sheet (to catch any drips).

Heat oil or butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook until soft.

Stir in cloves, spinach, and nutmeg and cook until spinach is wilted. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine egg mixture ingredients. Stir spinach mixture into bowl.

Pour into prepared pie plate; stir to distribute ingredients evenly.

Bake in centre of oven until top is golden and centre is set.

Diving into the Black Box – a Leftovers Challenge

Posted on November 7, 2017January 25, 2018 by cvanbrunschot

Blush Lane- LeftOvers pickup — Photo credit: C. Van Brunschot

If you’ve been following my FRESH BITES blog or my FaceBook page, you’ll know I’m as hooked on issues of food waste and hunger as I am on sharing stories of great food in amazing places. (Check out the new issue of City Palate magazine for my article “Feeding the Community” – highlighting an innovative organization tackling food waste and hunger right here in Calgary).

But when I learned from a 2014 City of Calgary study that 36% of the household trash hitting our local landfills was FOOD – and that more than half of that discarded food was edible – it was pretty impossible not to look at my own kitchen.

I like to think I do better than average at minimizing what I throw out (don’t we all?). And my weekly volunteer work for LeftOvers Calgary certainly keeps a fire lit under my feet. But DANG I get myself into trouble sometimes (see the reference to ataulfo mangos in the City Palate piece. Add to that my weakness for fresh herbs, leafy greens, growing tomatoes, trying out unusual ingredients – throw in the siren call of Calgary’s great restaurants taking me away from my kitchen… Let’s just say my crisper drawer can get overwhelmed pretty quickly).

So I’ve decided it’s time to up my game. I’m launching a six-week quest to reduce food waste in my own kitchen (six weeks’ practice creates a new habit, they say).

Each week, I’ll identify one thing that’s languishing in my fridge. My task will be to find creative ways to use it up. Sort of my own Black Box challenge.

In the interest of accountability, I’ll post my efforts to my blog. I’ll include a recipe or two – and any tips I’ve uncovered on my own or from others.

Don’t think for a minute that this is just about principle and virtue and doing the right thing. Truth is, I’ve tried previously to start my meal-planning with what’s already in my fridge and made a remarkable discovery:

It’s FUN! Gets my creative juices flowing. Expands my cooking repertoire. (And – okay – makes me feel a little virtuous, too).

So look for my first Black Box post in January (Launching the series now, as we head into the holiday season = recipe for failure). In the meantime, send me your own leftovers conundrums. Or your proven personal tips. Or tell me about people in the community who you know are tackling this well.

I’ll take a look at what’s lurking in my fridge and let you know what I find.

International Recognition for Calgary Pâtissier

Posted on September 29, 2017 by cvanbrunschot

In a pretty yellow house in Calgary’s Mission district, magic happens.

And now the world has been let in on that little secret.

I’m talking about Yann Haute Patisserie, owned and operated by pastry Chef Yann Blanchard and his wife, Jeraldine, since Christmas Eve 2009. It’s an unlikely slice of Paris on the Canadian prairies – a picture-perfect boutique dedicated to the creation of pastry that is as beautiful as it tastes.

The tiny shop has a reputation for having the best macarons in a city spoiled for choice on that front. I’m a personal fan of its viennoiserie.

And you should see the cakes.

This past week Chef Yann Blanchard became the first and only Canadian chef to be admitted to the Relais Dessert Association, an organization that recognizes the best in French pastry. Akin to obtaining a Michelin star, Chef Yann joins an elite group of approximately 100 pastry chefs and chocolatiers from 19 different countries who have been acknowledged for the quality of their ingredients, execution, and artistry, as well as their passion and professionalism.

Chef Yann excels on all those fronts. But I’ll let you in on another secret.

Some of those gorgeous pastries are delivered free each week to those wrestling their demons at Alpha House – a non-profit agency that has offered a safe environment for 35 years to clients struggling with addiction.

You see, Yann Haute Patisserie is also a regular donor to LeftOvers Calgary – a grassroots organization that rescues food that would otherwise be thrown into the landfill, and gets that food to service agencies in need. Each day, the staff at Yann Haute carefully squirrel away unsold pastries into their freezer. Once a week, a LeftOvers volunteer picks up those pastries and delivers them to Alpha House’s detox and recovery centre. As a volunteer driver with LeftOvers Calgary, I’ve been a lucky witness to the smiles that appear at the recovery centre when I arrive with that bag of magic.

So congratulations to Chef Yann Blanchard for his remarkable Relais Dessert distinction. It’s time the world knew more about his pastry and passion.

And kudos for extending that passion to the environment – and to those who might not ever pass through the patisserie doors.

Read more about Yann Haute Patisserie and Chef Yann’s Relais Dessert designation at yannboutique.com or on Facebook .

Photos – Yann Haute Patisserie

Feeding the 5000 Calgary

Posted on June 10, 2017June 15, 2017 by cvanbrunschot

For me as a food and travel writer, food is about adventure, about culture, about creativity and conviviality. But food is also about nurturing body and spirit and – at its most basic – it’s about survival. That’s why I volunteer at the Drop-In Centre, the Food Bank, and with LeftOvers Calgary.

Through LeftOvers I’ve learned that, at its worst, food is also about waste. HEAPS and HEAPS of it. So I’m excited to be a part of Feeding the 5000 this upcoming Thursday in Olympic Plaza – an event that will see Calgary chefs and volunteers turn perfectly edible food that would be destined for the landfill into a tasty lunch for 5000 people. And the best part? LUNCH IS FREE AND EVERYONE’S INVITED.

From its inaugural event in the UK in 2009, Feeding the 5000 has spread to locations around the world, including Paris, Sydney, New York, and Vancouver. Its aim is to raise awareness about global food waste. Fully 1/3 of the world’s food production is wasted, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization – discarded in processing, transport, warehouses, grocery stores, restaurants, and home kitchens.

Yes, you read that right – ONE THIRD of the world’s food production never makes it into the mouths of people.

In Canada alone, approximately 170,000 tonnes of edible food – or 300 million meals valued at 31 billion dollars – are sent to landfills every year. This squanders countless resources in terms of water, energy, land and the like – and makes discarded food one of our largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.

Here in Calgary, we’ve got work to do, too. Discarded food accounts for 36% of all material going from our homes into our landfills – and a 2016 study commissioned by the City of Calgary revealed that 52% of that discarded food is edible.

The food we’re talking about is not spoiled, mouldy, or otherwise unsafe to eat. Think those imperfect fruit and vegetables that you’re reluctant to buy at the supermarket (Yup – I’m guilty as charged). Or food beyond its “best before” date, but not past its expiration date. Overstock and oversupply at retailers. And mislabelled, improperly packaged, or damaged food.

What SAIT Chef Andrew Hewson and his team of volunteers aim to do this Thursday, June 15, is transform unsellable winter-stored potatoes and carrots, ugly tomatoes, surplus chickpeas, day-old bread – and anything else that might turn up in the food truck – into a delicious and nutritious summertime lunch that includes soup, salads, and dessert.

I’ll be chopping up some of those vegetables in the lead-up to the event and serving food in Olympic Plaza from 11 am to 2 pm. Come on down and have a taste – did I mention that it’s free?

While you’re eating, you’ll be able to find out what LeftOvers Calgary, the Calgary Regional Partnership, the Recycling Council of Alberta, and other organizations are doing to address food waste at the community level- and what we can do at home and at the supermarket to reduce our own food waste.

If you’re interested in joining me at the chopping block, contact me here – or on Facebook – and I’ll let you know where to be and when.

Or contact Jessica Letizia directly (jessicaletizia@calgaryregion.ca) and she’ll tell you how you can still help out before, during, or after the event. Feeding the 5000 would be happy to have a few extra hands on the team.

The food you’ll see is destined to surprise you. Come on down and check it out.

Feeding the 5000 Calgary

June 15, 2017/11 am to 2 pm/Olympic Plaza

For more information, see F5Kyyc.com.

Eating India

Posted on April 5, 2017 by cvanbrunschot

Surjit Singh in Amritsar — Credit: C. Van Brunschot

Thanks to Karen Anderson for the shout-out on her Savour It All blog about my “Eating India” article in the newest issue of City Palate. The article highlights my travels through northern India in late 2015 with Alberta Food Tours – a truly delicious adventure.

I’m happy to say I’ll be making a return trip with them in the fall – this time to Mumbai, Goa, Kerala, and the Cardamom Hills!

You can read Karen’s post here – and see my full article in blazing colour in the digital edition of City Palate here.

Big Tastes of Spring

Posted on March 1, 2017 by cvanbrunschot

(NOTE: WINTER IS ~~COMING~~ GOING)

Know what always tells me that spring is actually on its way?

It’s not the tulips that appear at the checkout, whispering tight-lipped promises that they’ll open their hearts, if only I’ll take them home. (I do, and they prove true to their word).

Nor is it the bare patch that emerges in my garden after a long Chinook, reminding me of where my rhubarb lays sleeping. (That just makes me sad. BUT I’ve found an antidote for that, which I’ll share later on).

It’s the moment when I take my last luscious YYC Hot Chocolate Fest sip (thank you, February!) and open my browser to the listings for The Big Taste – Calgary’s annual festival for food lovers. Those ten days in March when hundreds of city-centre chefs put on their best show, with multicourse meals that remind us what a terrific food town we live in. This year, more than 90 restaurants make their pitch for your heart and mine.

But the festival’s not all signature events and gourmet dinners (though there’s plenty of those, with menus whose read is its own delicious indulgence). Our chefs and restaurateurs know – perhaps better than most – that we’ve been hurting here in Calgary during this economic downturn. So they’ve also included 3-course lunches for only $15 and $25 dollars, and Happy Hour specials featuring all your favourite and soon-to-be-favourite drinks and snacks.

So even if the belt is tight at the moment, there’s good excuse to loosen it up just a notch and treat yourself to a little morale boost. To celebrate the news that we’ve turned the corner and – though the climb is still long and slow – better times lay ahead.

To venture down to the new-kids-on-the-block like Royale Brasserie and Mill Street Brewpub on 17th; Klein/Harris on Stephen Avenue; or Provision in Memorial Park. Stave off the winter blues with a new-to-you cuisine at Hapa Izakaya (serving Japanese), Paper St. Food + Drink (featuring international street food), or Foreign Concept (helmed by Gold Medal Plates winner, Chef Jinhee Lee, and her mentor, Duncan Ly).

Maybe it’s time to check out the food scene stars that you’ve just never made it to, like Pigeonhole or Whitehall. Or to splash all-out: at SAIT’s Centennial Celebration in their spiffy downtown culinary campus – or at The Guild toasting Canada’s 150th birthday in the iconic Hudson’s Bay building .

Whether your inclination is to explore new food frontiers or rediscover old favourites, know that scores of our culinary best are working hard behind the scenes to coax fabulous flavours and colours from our province’s larders and root cellars. They’re tapping local greenhouses – and sourcing fresh crops from our neighbours in gentler climes – to remind us of what we can look forward to as the days grow longer.

They’re bringing spring back to Calgary. Time to show them a little love. It’s been a long cold winter for them, too.

The 2017 Big Taste Foodie Festival (#BIGTASTEYYC) launches this Friday, March 3 and runs through Sunday, March 12. Find restaurant listings, menus, and reservations links at http://www.calgarydowntown.com/the-big-taste.

AND FOR THOSE LIKE ME WHO CAN’T WAIT FOR THAT FIRST TASTE OF RHUBARB: Track down a bottle of Okanagan Spirits’ Rhubarb Liqueur – my favourite springtime discovery. In an inspired turn of crowdsourcing in 2016, Vernon’s craft distillery asked Okanagan residents if they’d like to share their spare rhubarb for a little experiment. Okanaganites responded in droves – with everything from truckbeds of rhubarb stalks in dirt, to sealed baggies of carefully-chopped fruit. Distillery staff painstakingly washed and hand-chopped all 650 pounds – to produce a spirit that’s so tart and fresh, you can almost hear the crunch. Look for it at fine liquor stores in Calgary or order it online while supplies last.

Comfort & Joy at Seasons of Bowness Park

Posted on December 7, 2016 by cvanbrunschot

There’s a basic problem to running a restaurant in a 75-acre park. Especially when it flanks one of Calgary’s most popular outdoor skating haunts.

How to keep the wind off your customers every time someone whooshes in with their gear?

Solution: the glass-and-metal vestibule installed at Seasons of Bowness Park. It’s a simple but stylish affair of irregularly-sized panels that frames this new casual fine dining restaurant with a watery effect akin to the light playing off Bowness lagoon.

But when I sit down with Alex Solano, one of the operators of Seasons (as well as two Salt and Pepper locations and Lolita’s Lounge in Inglewood), I learn there’s more to this portico than meets the eye.

It’s pieced of ten historic styles of glass – some wavy, some bubbly, some seemingly dripping with movement – that each derive from a different decade of the park’s 100-year heritage. It’s a silent tribute to the park’s storied past of campsites and swimming pools , teahouses and trolleys, dancehalls and midway rides – and to the stories of generations of Calgarians who have skated, strolled and played under the poplars.

“I wanted the vestibule to make you stop and think,” says Alex. “To take a small [subconscious] pause and say: ‘Oh, actually this is really nice. I’m now somewhere else’.” A somewhere else he hopes that’s peaceful and neighbourly, where people can savour food and good conversation along with the view.

A place where the servers are quick to recognize that the couple at Table 12 want a little privacy, the solo diner devouring Road Trip Rwanda along with her arancini needs her glass topped up without interruption, and the pair by the window crave an ear with which to share the thrill of their grandson’s first steps. Or perhaps bemoan the emigration of their daughter to Toronto for want of a local job.

Seasons' chicken pot pie — Chicken pot pie with apple beet salad Photo credit: Seasons of Bowness Park

Now almost five months into its rise from the Flood of 2013, Seasons is gearing up for the winter season with a new menu focusing on warm, comfort foods. Think bubbling chicken pot pie. Fresh Alberta Arctic grayling reminiscent of fishing trips with your dad. And an apple-ring confection that looks and smells like mini-doughnuts on a pillow of sweet cream.

With the ice scheduled to be ready this weekend, there’ll be coffee-and-Bailey’s on the deck for the skating crowd; hot chocolate, of course, for the alcohol-disinclined. Weekends will continue to bustle with brunchers, and the gas fireplaces on the new plaza will light up to warm frigid hands and feet.

Look for special date-night events by Valentine’s Day: how about a cocktail/appetizer interlude, followed by a moonlit skate while servers prepare your table for a cozy fondue?

If seasonal shopping is more front-of-mind for you these days, head next door to the Market grab-and-go counter. While the barista pulls your latte, scan the small-but-growing collection of retail items, including Chilewich runners and placemats, and soft navy throws featuring Seasons’ retro-cool canoe logo. And bring home a few shortcuts for your holiday entertaining, like house-made bone-broth, pumpkin hummus, and fresh tomato salsa.

2016 showed us that Bowness Park is back again to thread through the warp of our urban lives. It’s worthy of a pause – don’t you think? – to appreciate Seasons’ glass century passage next time the wind blows you in.

Seasons of Bowness Park and Market are open daily, including Christmas and New Year’s. Check their Facebook page for hours.

It’s Beakerhead time!

Posted on September 1, 2016September 14, 2018 by cvanbrunschot

big data image — (Credit: infocus Technologies (Creative Commons license))

At the point where art intersects with science, something exciting happens. Something innovative. Potentially game-changing. Possibly delicious.

And from September 14 to 18, 2016, Beakerhead – Calgary’s annual “smash-up of science, art, and engineering” – promises to deliver all of those things and more.

Think interactive art and science experiments in the streets. An inside-the-studio look at the art and mechanics of special movie effects (read: autopsies and snow flurries). A Rock ‘n Roll History of Space Exploration, featuring a real astronaut. And a plethora of workshops that plumb the intricacies of memory, revenge, and each of the five senses – including my obvious favourite: taste.

H Tech High-Balls - web — (Credit: beakerhead.com)

Food nerds, get excited – because there’s a veritable buffet of activities and samplings at this year’s festival. In the chemistry class you wish you had in high school, Hi Tech High-Balls lets you create “engineered drinks” under the guidance of Hotel Arts’ Mixologist, Franz Swinton. Coffee-lovers can join Phil & Sebastian coffee roasters as they explore java/milk synergies in Cafe-au-Lait Scientifique (who knew these guys were both engineering school grads?).

For those who believe there’s no better workshop than one with take-home treats, there’s Spicy Palate Workout, The Squeak Behind the Cheese Curds, and the Science of the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. And in the realm of epic events, Torched brings six top Calgary chefs and mixologists together with a car turning a spit and wire baskets of trout roasting over a giant flame.

Around town, Engineered Eats sees over 30 Calgary restaurants and bars creating engineered treats and molecular cocktails for you to try, using the 2016 festival’s theme ingredient: milk. I’ve already got my tickets to Exploring the Milky Way, a Stampede Trolley tour to four of the participating restaurants, where we’ll meet the chefs, learn how the dishes and drinks were created, and taste the results of their experiments.

(In truth, signing up for the Milky Way event had my loyalties divided, as it meant having to forgo the engaging Seven Wonderers session – a panel of first-rate science writers and storytellers telling tales of their own wondering. It was my Man’s and my favourite session at last year’s festival).

lucky iron fish — Lucky Iron Fish (Credit: beakerhead.com)

On the game-changing front, several Beakerhead events present a half-dozen social entrepreneurs: folks intent on improving the world with small inventions that have potentially big social impacts. Products like wearable technology to assist autism-sufferers interpret social cues. An iron fish that tackles world malnutrition one pot at a time. Disaster relief in a box, and a tsunami survival capsule. An inflatable solar light that packs flat. And a solar-powered bike pod to keep you warm on your winter commute.

Calgarians who favour careening around the city on two wheels will be happy to know that a multitude of free art, cultural, and science exhibits and activities will be placed in cycle-friendly locations around the downtown core. There’s a foldout of these Chain Reactions inside the program guide to help you map out your route. And those for whom this is new territory can join the Cyclepalooza folks for a free guided bike tour through all the major installations – finishing up at Beakernight, the festival’s culminating all-ages street party in Bridgeland.

There truly is something for everyone among the more than 50 events and exhibits at the 2016 Beakerhead festival. Check out the full list at beakerhead.com or download a PDF version of the festival program here.