cooking

C is for Cookie

Written

on Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Photo courtesy esthereggy on Flickr.

…and apparently that’s good enough for the Ottawa Lung Association. This Thursday they’re hosting a cookie exchange, where you bring two dozen of your home-baked treats and walk away with an assortment of others! This Cookie Connection fundraiser won’t just feature delicious baked goods, however - the $15 entrance fee will also get you fancy tea and pitas, and a lecture all about healthy eating and healthy aging (hey, we’re not getting any younger!).

So spend a bit of time in the kitchen over the next few days, and show up with your goodies at the Lung Association’s Ottawa office (500-2319 St Laurent Blvd) at 2pm on Thursday, August 19. Bring along an ingredient list, too - I suspect this is because they’d like to avoid any sort of severe allergic reactions, which is fair. They’ll also have copies of their cookie cookbook on hand, with some of their top picks for best cookie. If you’ve got questions, just drop Charlotte Jewer, their fundraising assistant, a line at 613-230-4200.

So, what will it be - oatmeal raisin? The classic chocolate chip? Or perhaps a fancy almond cherry biscotti?

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Africa Festival this weekend!

Written

Katie

on Friday, July 30, 2010

One more for your social calendar this weekend… the 2nd Annual Africa Festival! Here’s a short description from the Citizen:

The second Ottawa African Festival kicks off Friday, July 30, at Victoria Island. The three-day festival celebrates the artistry and culture of the city’s African community. Events include a fashion show, drama, arts, crafts, children’s storytelling, food and concerts. Concerts begin at 5 p.m. July 30, and 11 a.m. on July 31 and Aug. 1. Performers include The Mighty Popo, Lorraine Klaasen, Muna Mingole, Rita Carter and the Burundi Drummers. The festival will wrap up with the all-African soccer games on Aug. 1 at the Terry Fox stadium at Mooney’s Bay. For information and tickets, phone 613-794-4487 or go online at www.africanfestival.org.

Tickets are $20 for adults. Click below for the schedule of events.

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Discover Cooking at the LCBO

Written

apartment613

on Friday, July 23, 2010

Photo courtesy of thekuster on Flikr

Despite the torrential rain we saw this week: IT’S SUMMER! With summer comes the need to exploit every possible opportunity to enjoy the refreshing wares available at your local LCBO. This summer the LCBO is also offering Discover Cooking Classes, providing you with the skills to create even more opportunities to imbibe.

With class names like “To Copenhagen with Love” and “The World on a Plate” there’s bound to be something to tempt your taste buds. Although not particularly hands on, for ~$50 a pop you get a sample of each dish, wine pairings with some of the menu, and the know how to re-create the deliciousness once you get home. For those of you with bigger appetites (and bigger wallets), classes such as the “East Coast Beach Party” feature full portions of each entrée at a cost of $85 per person.

Taught by local chefs like Hector Diaz of the Casino du Lac-Leamy and Ken Harper of Chop Chop Catering, most classes are 2 hours in length and are offered on weekday evenings. Classes are held at both the Rideau and Nepean Crossroads locations (not all classes are offered at both locations) and pre-registration is required.

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Ottawa Turkish Festival

Written

Katie

on Saturday, July 10, 2010

The Festival will be open to general public free of charge and will display Turkish art, folk dance, music and gourmet food, where visitors will get an opportunity to celebrate, learn, and savour Turkish hospitality, culture, heritage and cuisine.

Turkish Movie with English subtitles – KELEBEK (Butterfly) 2 pm – 4 pm Saturday, July 17, 2010

Ottawa Public Library – Main Branch
120 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, ON

Turkish Cuisine Demonstration – Noon – 2 pm Sunday, July 18, 2010

Hartman’s Independent Grocer
296 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON

Documentary of Şeb-i Arûs (Whirling Dervishes Ceremony) – 6 pm – 8 pm Monday, July 19, 2010

Ottawa Public Library – Main Branch
120 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, ON

Festival Opening Gala - Noon – 2 p.m. – Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Ottawa City Hall
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, ON

Turkish Language Classes – 6 pm – 8 pm Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Turkish Cultural Center
26 Thorncliff Place
Ottawa, ON

Flag Raising Ceremony – 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. – Friday, July 23, 2010

Ottawa Police Headquarters
474 Elgin Street
Ottawa, ON

Festival Grounds – Noon – 9 p.m. – Saturday, July 24 & Sunday, July 25, 2010

Confederation Park
Laurier Ave. and Elgin St.
Ottawa, ON

Visitors will be able to browse and buy Turkish products, souvenirs and handcrafts, participate in activities for children, view many authentic demonstrations and performances, sample Turkish cuisine, and do much, much more at the Festival.

In 2009 the Festival witnessed another great expansion by hosting the Youth Folk Dance and Music Ensemble of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism from the Republic of Turkey. The City of Ottawa officially proclaimed July 24-26, 2009, as Ottawa Turkish Festival weekend within the city. Canadian Heritage was again our largest sponsor and the Ottawa Police Headquarters hosted a spectacular show for the Opening Ceremonies. Not only that, CTV Globe Media signed up as the Festival’s exclusive TV sponsor. On July 27, 2009, the world’s largest global newspaper, Metro carried the Festival to its front page as its lead article. We now believe that the Festival has established itself on the Ottawa Festivals scene.

A preview of Ottawa Turkish Festival held on July 24-26, 2009 and other years can be viewed at YouTube.

What to expect at the Festival?

* Performances of Turkish Folk Dances, Whirling Dervish of Rumi and Live Turkish Music.
* Watch an Ebru (Water Marbling) painting demonstration on paper and Classical Calligraphy Drawing.
* Relax at the Turkish Oriental Corner, decorated with pillows, rugs, arts, handicrafts, traditional jewelry and more.
* Enjoy Turkish cuisine, sample gourmet foods including kababs, donair vegetarian & olive oil dishes, Gözleme (Turkish Pancake), Börek (Turkish Flaky Pastry), Mantı (Turkish Ravioli), as well as drinks like Ayran (Turkish Buttermilk). A meal would not be complete without desert! Taste Baklava, Turkish delight and more.
* Don’t miss popular Turkish coffee and tea served in an authentic setting
* Let your kids enjoy all sorts of activities: face painting, games, cotton candy, the inflatable village and more!
* Browse the different vendors and booths for books, souvenirs, fine arts and crafts.
* Visit our employment corner to discuss career opportunities with the Canadian Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Ontario Provencial Police (OPP) and the Ottawa Police.
* Support charitable organizations like Northern Lights Educational Services (NLES) providing top quality Child Care services and the Canadian Institute of Intercultural Dialogue (CIID) hosting monthly Interfaith Dialogue Talk Series (IDTS).
* Plan your trip to Turkey, to the land of ancient civilizations! Pick up a copy of tourist brochures available at our information booth.

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Street Food Exposé: B.Goods bakery, sweets on asphalt.

Written

Dominic

on Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Photos by Dominic Maggiolo

Post by Dominic Maggiolo, Ottawa food philosopher and blogger on vegetarian food and culture. Check out some of his other writings on his blog, Le Jeune Gourmand.

You’re not going to find mustard, relish or ketchup at this street vendor; no stocky polish man yelling at you for not taking the “special” sauce on your hot dog; nor are you going to have gulls taking a swipe at your freshly deep fried golden strips of love. I’m talking about something different, something Ottawa needs: an individual passionate about baking and food, and he’s taking it to the streets.

I had originally written this article as part of a series exposing Ottawa’s street food scene, but was surprised and quite frankly annoyed by the lack thereof. Its seems that, despite being a medium sized city, we are not reaping the benefits of local taco stands, oatmeal buggies, burrito trucks, shaved ices, ice cream mobiles, etc.

Inside the mobile bakery However, this does not stop Brad Campeau from producing delightfully interesting street food: a wide variety of mouth-watering homemade cookies that are 100% vegan. His business, the B.Goods Bakery, is almost entirely run in a massive RV/bakery hybrid, which not only looks cool but runs extremely well.

You can instantaneously taste the love within his cookies. Among the few that I’ve devoured: Spelt Molasses Ginger, Whole-wheat Chili Chocolate and Whole-wheat Chocolate Chip. The cookies are sweet, but not too sweet, moist, malleable, perfectly dense, and NOT cakey. With their signature dipped-in-sugar-on the-one-side, it goes without saying that these cookies were perfectly thought out.

About a month ago, I was able to see a demo done by Brad at Ottawa’s VegFest and was surprised by the way he approached baking. He’s assertive and I immediately saw he knew what he was talking about. A true public speaker with a charismatic approach to creating his cookies, Brad’s vegan baking demo was inspirational and made it seem extremely user friendly. While he did, however, restrain from divulging all of his secrets, nonetheless he gave a few informative tips .

I think it’s safe to say that tracking down B.Goods should be on everyone’s to-do list this summer. Brad is often found at most local events and farmers markets, or you can hunt for his cookies at many local stores. I had a chance to talk to him numerous times and came up with a quick profile of his business, locations and motivation.

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THE 2010 INTERNATIONAL CHICKEN-RIB COOK-OFF

Written

Katie

on Wednesday, June 23, 2010

June 23-27 on Sparks St.

Teams from Canada and the United States will compete for the top rank of best rib choice, best rib sauce, best chicken choice and best chicken sauce.

If you miss this, you will be missing some of the best BBQ chicken and ribs you’ll ever taste. This is truly an international Chicken and Rib Cook-off.

Cook-Off Hours:

Wednesday, June 23 to Saturday June 26
11 am to 8:30 pm

Sunday, June 27
10:30 am to 6:00 pm

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Simply Raw: Healthy Lifestyles Festival

Written

Karen

on Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Photo courtesy Jen Chan on Flickr.

Ottawa’s version of Central Park (at Bank, near Powell) may be small, but in the summer it’s the place to be. Besides being perfect for picnics and art, this Saturday the park will be home to the Simply Raw Festival.

This all-day event brings together some of the region’s most knowledgeable folks in sustainable and healthy living, including the Worm Lady (down at the Worm Factory), along with chefs, entertainers and athletes, all committed to raw living. The stellar line up includes Bif Naked, who will hopefully go beyond speaking about raw food to singing one or two of her classics.

Along with some musical acts, the festival will also feature their usual “rawsome” raw vegan pie contest. (Yes, there will be samples. And yes, they will be delicious.) The contest will be judged by some of our favourite local celebrities, including CBC”s own Frugalista. It all gets underway on Saturday, June 19, at 10am and runs until 9pm, with the pie contest happening at noon.

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No more clucking around! Local group fights for your right to raise urban chickens

Written

saxby

on Thursday, June 10, 2010

Photo courtesy of Chrissylong on Flickr

As much as I may be committed to the idea of buying food locally - through purchasing from eastern Ontario farmers and frequenting Ottawa’s plentiful markets - I’ve never been much into producing food myself. The nature of an apartment-dweller’s life means that my home-grown agriculture tends to be restricted to a small fire escape herb garden, if anything at all. There are, however, those among us who are far more committed to finding creative ways to create sustainable and economically viable food systems - like the folks at Cluck Ottawa.

Cluck Ottawa is an organization committed to creating a legal environment that’s friendly to the raising of backyard chickens. Apartment613 caught up with group founder Lyssa Rhodes to find out the benefits of keeping hens on-hand.

Apt613: Can you give us a “state of the union” on backyard chicken policies in Ottawa right now? What can a homeowner get away with, chicken-wise?

Cluck Ottawa: Right now in Ottawa chickens are classed as “livestock,” which prohibits anyone to own a small flock of hens. However, it is legal to own up to 40-70 pigeons, depending on the time of year. There are a few “underground hen keepers” that have had hens for a long time within the city with no complaints from neighbors, and no visits from bylaw officers to deal with smells/noise/chicken-at-large activities of any kind.

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“I’ve still got you, ice cream…” Interview with Pascale of Pascale’s Ice Cream

Written

Dominic

on Thursday, May 27, 2010

All photos courtesy of Alexandre Mattar

Post by Dominic Maggiolo, Ottawa food philosopher and blogger on vegetarian food and culture. With his series of exposés on women food entrepreneurs, chefs, bakers and more, he hopes to showcase the wonderful talent here in Ottawa and in the area. Check out other posts in this series or some of Dominic’s other writings on his blog, Le Jeune Gourmand.

“Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal.”
Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) (1694-1778) - French philosopher.

There couldn’t be a better time to be reading this article. With the heat leaving us sticking to our couches, making cut-offs out of our old pairs of jeans and getting farmers tans, someone in our very own city is churning up a batch of that sweet, sweet (and cold) frozen desert we like to call (or as Mr.Burns might reference it) “iced cream”. Who would of thunk it - A local ice cream girl? That’s right, Pascale, from Pascale’s Ice Cream not only makes her ice cream here in Ottawa, but sticks to the 100 mile diet philosophy while creating said deliciousness. While tasting her ice cream, I could immediately tell that she, without a doubt, pours tons of labor and love into her craft.

Recently, I had a chance to devour some of her ice cream and I couldn’t be any happier. The ice cream didn’t taste like anything I’ve ever had before. My flavor of choice: the 70% chocolate chèvre (in other words, goats cheese chocolate ice cream).

The ice cream had a certain je ne sais quoi to it. The flavorsome-churned cream of the gods was: buttery, smooth in texture, cold and malleable in overall complexity. The subtle hints of milk from the chèvre and cocoa, coats your tongue leaving you feeling like you’ve had some epiphany, some life altering experience, some dazed dream leaving your feeling slightly confused, but all too satisfied. I couldn’t be any more proud to live in a city were great artisan chefs; cooks and foodies create these wonderfully crafted items and share them with us. Put down that Breyers carton and I implore you to go and get yourself 1, 2, 23 cartons of Pascale’s astounding ice cream. I assure you, you will not be disappointed.

I also think it goes without saying that supporting our local businesses is great for the growth of an healthy community. So please, take a minute and visit your local shops and markets, you might be surprised by what you discover.

I had a chance to talk to Pascale about her quest to create the perfect ice cream and to find out a little about how she got to where she is now.

Click to continue reading ““I’ve still got you, ice cream…” Interview with Pascale of Pascale’s Ice Cream”

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Carnival of Cultures (June 11-13)

Written

apartment613

on Sunday, May 9, 2010

Carnival of Cultures is a weekend festival that celebrates folkloric traditions through music, dance, theatre from the four corners of the globe. Come discover South American, European, African, Middle-Eastern, and Asian cultures presented by over 400 local artists who will take the stage at Vincent Massey Park. In addition to non-stop entertainment and activities, the festival also offers tantalizing authentic cuisine, eye-opening demonstrations, and hands-on workshops for people of all ages.

The world is at your fingertips at Carnival of Cultures!