Spherification

Spherification was first developed in the 1950s by a a company called Unilever, a Dutch and British company that produces food, beverages, beauty products and cleaners. However, spherification in the Culinary world first appeared in elBulli. Executive Chef Ferran Adria used this technique with olives, creating an olive pouch that when you take a bite it melts away. Using two chemicals sodium alginate and calcium chloride to form an “layer” or “skin” around your chosen liquid encapsulating it into a perfect bubble for lack of a better word.

Now it has become somewhat of a fad but its something I’ve been obsessed with, thinking of any application for it. The simplicity and beauty of spherification is what draws me to this technique of molecular gastronomy.

There are two different “forms” of spherification: Basic and Reverse.

Basic: this method is used for fruit juices, teas, and vegetables that do not contain any calcium.
To perform basic spherification the juice (fruit/tea/veg) is mixed with a small amount of powered sodium alginate, then dripped into a cold water bath containing calcium chloride. You would then wait a few seconds to minutes and gently remove your spheres from the liquid. Rinse and rest in water until needed. This creates a layer of “skin” around your liquid, this gives the same feel as caviar would.
* A lot of chefs or restaurants use this for “caviar pearls”. You can buy pre-made ones though they can be expensive.

Reverse: this method is used when the chosen liquid contains calcium (milk) or high amounts of alcohol. To keep it basic, you taking the two chemical compounds calcium and sodium, and adding them to different procedures during spherification. Adding calcium lactate or calcium lactate gluconate to your liquid and suspending the liquid in a sodium alginate bath. You must allow enough time for the “skin” to form around your chosen liquid before removing and rinsing your sphere.

Let’s be real for a minute, there are a lot of science words and chemicals involved in this kind of technique. No you don’t have to be a scientist but you have to at least understand the compounds you are using. I would definitely recommend talking with someone who either has preformed spherification before or a chemist.

Here are some definitions of the different chemicals to help:

Calcium lactate gluconate: is lactic acid, salt from calcium and gluconic acid mixed together into a calcium tablet. This is the chemical compound Ca₅(C₃H₅O₃)₆·(C₆H₁₁O₇)₄·2H₂O

Gluconic Acid: is an organic compound C₆H₁₂O₇ . This organic compound is apart of a special group of chemical compounds  called stereoisomers that all that the same base elements (oxygen, hydrogen and carbon) but are group or bonded together into different chains.

Sodium Alginate: is a polysaccharide, a by product of brown algae or seaweed found in the cells walls of the algae itself. When extracted and added to water to turns to a “gum like” substance. (This is what forms the layer of “skin” during spherification)

Calcium Chloride: this is an inorganic compound, a salt that is a crystal at room temperature but can dissolve in water. It is widely used in food productions in Europe and USA. It is used as a firming agent in tofu, it is in almost any energy drinks, and in canned vegetables. It is also a way to add salty flavor without increasing the actual salt content.

All the veggies.. <3

 

First off, I love vegetables. Always have and will. Occasionally I think about going vegetarian but I usually come up with reasons why I shouldn’t BUT for this blog I went Veggie for 4 days. It was surprisingly not as hard as I thought, the one big issue i encountered was the fact that I would have to eat 3-4 small meals in order to feel “full”. In a day I would have the following:

Breakfast: Fruit salad (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, melons etc)
Snack: Yogurt with dried cereal OR homemade granola (THE BEST) and fruit OR homemade granola bar
Lunch: Bagel with cream cheese, lettuce and tomatoes toasted.
Dinner: Super Food salad or as in the above pic, blanched asparagus w/ buratta, radish and toasted almonds, drizzle with EVOO and lemon juice
OR
Crunchy chickpeas tossed in spices w/ greek salad

**This includes coffee as well

I found by eating so much fruit and veg all day I was more alert and feel “healthy” however, there were times when I would wake up at 11pm and be super hungry. I really enjoyed the experience though. It made me want to go veggie about 2 days a week to change things up. Its also really nice during the summer time, when its super hot and no one wants to turn their stove on!

There were some pitfalls..
It was more prep work then I would want for an easy after school meals, normally I’d have leftovers in order to keep the cooking and cleaning to a minimum after school.

It is SO expensive to either buy or make 4 meals a day for vegetarian or even vegans. The cost of “organic” vegetables is mind blowing. I did find one way around this, if you go to NoFrills, they have these “SuperFood” salads that are $3 and they are filling and quite delicious. I am not normally a fan of buying prepackaged salads but I was genuinely surprised and happy. (I would just recommend using your own dressing, the one you get sucks).

Other then expense and some small inconveniences it was an overall really good experience and I would consider doing it again. One thing though I would strongly encourage people to either make their own granola from scratch OR their own protein bar which is what I did. Here is the recipe, its super easy!

Bella’s super healthy protein bars

1/2 cup dried Strawberries
1/2 cup dried blueberries/raspberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried Goji berries
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 plump golden raisins
3 cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups puffed brown rice
1/2 cup dried sugar free coconut (not processed)
2 cups mixed nuts (your choice any nuts taste good, roasted or not roasted)
1/2 sunflower seeds
1/4 pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup Chia seeds
8 Tbsp Hemp seeds
8 Tbsp Flax seeds
1/4 cup Almond or Cashew butter
1 cup honey
1 cup golden corn syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Line 3” high baking pan with parchment paper, lightly grease the bottom then place parchment on top.

Melt honey, corn syrup, coconut oil and almond butter together. Toss all remaining ingredients together. Pour melted mixture over and thoroughly coat. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 min OR until golden brown and everything sticks together. The bars should dry out but still retain some chewiness.

Portion and individually wrap for grab and go. 

 

Pork, Pork and more Pork

I have to start off by saying, I love my local butcher shop, Eddystone Meats. Not only do they have a great selection, from chicken, steak, lamb to their homemade sausage, their prices are WAY better then any grocery store or high end butcher shop. But more importantly its the quality. Now I’ve been shopping here for about 5 years now. Not once have I ever been disappointed. Their meat is some of the best, I’ll never forget the first time I bought a whole chicken from them. Beautiful, perfectly trussed, and probably some of the best damn chicken I’ve eaten.

So a little background about Eddystone Meats, open in 1972 by owner Tony Totera, it is a family run business. As you walk into this super clean and modern looking butcher shop, you are hit with the most beautiful smell of meat and cheese. They use both wet and dry aging techniques for their meats. They make everything in house except for imported goods like various cheeses, some salamis and pre-packaged goods. The customer service at Eddystone Meats is something to be desired, I have never been in there and not had a friendly smile and the offer of a delicious espresso. It truly is a little Italian paradise in North York.

For my choice of meat, I went with one of my favourites, Pork Butt. Normally I go for a bone in pork shoulder but I wanted to make something special and I need the high fat content for slow roasting. I purchased a 4.71lb Pork butt for $16, which works out to roughly be about $3.39/lb. I do like purchasing a much large piece of pork because I meal plan during school days. For example, this 5lb pork butt will last me and my boyfriend approximately 3 days (depending on how much the BF likes it). I also find it quite cost saving to buy a larger piece of meat and eat it for 3 days opposed to buying cuts of meat for every day.
I chose a pork butt for 2 main reasons, the high fat content allows me to slow roast without losing flavour and moisture. The second is because pork is cheap, it feeds a lot of people easily AND its really good. Pork butt comes from the lower shoulder to upper leg of a pig. It is rich in fat marbling, flavour and has a bone called the blade bone inside. I always think that any meat cooked with bones in a best. However, for the recipe I chose I went with a boneless pork butt because I’m not slow roasting this pork butt. The great thing about this cut of meat is that you can flavour it and cook it pretty much any old way; slow roast, braise, BBQ, stewing and many more.

For my recipe I’m making Mojo Pork.

Marinade:

1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 bunch cilantro
1/4 cup mint
2 whole oranges, juiced and zested
2 limes, juiced and zested
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp Cumin
6 garlic cloves

Add all ingredients to to food processor or using immersion blender, blend everything together until it becomes almost paste like. Place pork butt in large ziplock bag and pour the marinade over the pork. Allow to marinate for 8-24hrs. I always find it tastes better after 24 hrs has passed.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a wire baking rack over a 2” high roasting pan. This is allows all the fat to run off but keeps the pork from sitting in fat and burning on the bottom. Cook pork butt for 20 min on 400, then turn it down to 350 degrees for approximately 2 1/2 hours, depending how big your pork butt is. Now the tricky part of this Mojo Pork is it is not a slow roast, you must roast it until the juices are just running clear. This is why I chose to use the Pork Butt for this recipe because I find the traditionally used pork shoulder dries out too fast before the pork is finished cooking because its not being slow roasted. The Pork Butt gives you all the extra fat and moisture when roasting something like this and makes it harder to dry out completely. Allow meat to rest for minimum 20 min before slicing.

 

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Bread Making!

 

I was a little nervous my jam wouldn’t be enough, so I also made some soft buns to go along with my jam!

I am not an expert by any standards when it comes to bread. I’ve done this a few times now and these are the best they’ve ever come out! I would say that hardest part about making bread when to add salt and how long to proof for! There are a lot of factors at play when making bread. It can be very daunting.

This recipe comes from 5th edition Professional Baking, amazing book if you’re interested in baking, it has everything.

Soft Rolls 

• 2 packets, active instant yeast
• 325g warm water
• 625g Bread Flour
• 30g 2% Milk
• 60g sugar
• 12g salt
• 30g butter
• 30g shortening

Optional for savory buns:

• 150g Parmesan cheese, grated
• 10 sprigs of thyme
• 2 tsp smoked ancho chili powder.

1. Pour warm water into mixer bowl with yeast. Allow yeast to bloom, approximately 5 min.
2. While yeast is blooming, measure out all your remaining ingredients. Have them ready. Mix the salt into the flour so it will distribute evenly in the dough and prevent yeast from retarding.
3. Put mixing bowl onto mixer with the dough attachment. Pour all remaining ingredients into mixer except butter and shortening.
4. Mix together on 2nd speed until dough begins to form. Add the butter and shortening. They dough will look wet and sticky, ignore this and allow to knead dough for 5-10 minutes until ball forms and dough is pulled away from the sides. If you want to make savory buns, remove half the dough before kneading and mix it with the cheese, herbs and spices. Knead separately for the same amount of time 5-10 min. 
5. In two greased bowls each dough to one bowl, cover and allow to proof for one hour.
6. Once dough is proved, cut dough into sections and roll balls accordingly. You can do whatever you want at this point, keep it as loaves, roll into buns, braid etc its unlimited possibilities. I chose to make buns because they are easy to freeze and keep for 2 weeks in the freezer.
7. Allow the dough to rest one more time, approx. 30 min. before baking at 400 degrees for 14 min. I suggest having the buns on the middle rack of your oven. Once baked they are ready to eat!

 

Pictures

We Jammin’

 

Homemade jam is by far one of my favourite things to make. Every year my family goes to Whittaker’s Berry Farm, pick strawberries, raspberries and any other deliciousness you can find there. A great way to keep berries for longer is by making jam! Here is my own tried and true recipe. It is simple but works wonders. This recipe includes NO pectin,some people do not like pectin of dietary reasons or at all. So I came up with a recipe anyone can make or eat!

Berry Jam

• 2 cups rapsberries, washed
• 2 cups blackberries, washed
• 4 cups sugar
• one big piece of ginger, peeled
• cinnamon sticks
• vanilla

Mix all ingredients into a pot and bring up to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 1-1/2 hours until the sugar has dissolved and it becomes thick. After washing and sterilizing your jar, fill your jar with the jam while its still super hot. Using a jar tongs pick up jar and seal quickly with the lid as tightly as possible! Allow to come to room temperature before leaving in a cool place for a day or two.

Photos

Welcome to Nutrition

I never know how to appropriately start these blog posts, so today I’m starting off with something weird about myself. My name is Isabella Toone and I love to cook which is no surprise to people who know me. However, I love cooking so much I like to go into the LCBO and not buy anything just to get the Food & Wine magazine. I know, super dorky right? It’s true though and probably one of my favourite food related activities.

I finally decided about a year ago to apply to George Brown for Culinary Skills. It took awhile to gain the courage to finally do it but here I am! I’m really enjoying the program too, I love that it combines both baking and cooking. Something that really surprised me about school was my Nutrition class, I thought it would be super boring but I’ve learned a lot. Specifically the Diet Analysis really got me interested in Nutrition. I’d really like to explore that more, especially creating recipes and learning about what nutrients are really in certain recipes. I do feel like it will be necessary in the future to have more chefs know more about nutrition and specifically diet analysis. As trends are pushing for healthier cleaner eating, it is imperative that chefs also de-bunk fads AND promote real healthy eating, its all about balance.

I’d really love to be able to own my own restaurant as a chef and cook for people. I love all foods and would love to bring that to the public. Especially people who say they “don’t like vegetables” I would love to change their minds! I’m hoping within 5 years to either open my own restaurant OR be a head chef at one of my favourite restaurants, maybe Terroni’s.

I want to leave off with talking about the difference between Credible and UN credible sources for nutrition on the internet. Now the internet is vast and there are millions of sites out there saying they know what they’re talking about when it comes to nutrition. A lot of this is garbage.

Here are a few things to look out for when trying to verify if a site is credible or not:

• Is it sponsored by a government or educational institution? These are the best sites! They have tones of information gathered by various studies and research done by real nutritionists and dietitians.
• Are the authors able to be verified as contributing members in the field of study? You should be able to google anyone’s credentials if they are stated as a doctor, nutritionist, dietitian or researcher. If not you’re on the wrong site!
• Was the website sponsored or created by a credible institution like a university, government subsidized program  or government website?
• Are you able to find the exact same information on multiple sites? Meaning do they all include the same study? Are all the sites government or educational institutions? Are the authors qualified members of the field of study and mentioned in said article?

These are things to think about when finding credible information. Here are two examples, one is credible and the other is not. Good luck!

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/food-nutrition.html

https://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/healthy-eating-nutrition

The Journey Begins

Hi there,

My name is Isabella Toone and I have loved cooking for as long as I can remember. Cooking has always been huge part of my family, it is a family standard that we have Sunday dinners, family lunches and get together for a huge family feast during the holidays. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my Nonna and I in the kitchen making bread, sauce, stock and her famous blueberry pie.  In part, my family has influenced me to become a Chef but I’ve always felt like I belong in the kitchen, that its what I was meant to do. It’s hard to explain, I’ve always felt peace and immense satisfaction cooking for others, its something I always dreamed about as a kid. Not to be famous necessarily but to cook for others.

After a rocky year at university, I moved back to Toronto and began working in different restaurants. I was firm in my decision to work before school, I wanted to know for sure this is what I was meant to do. There were ups and downs however, I learned so much, especially at my one of my top 5 favourite industry jobs; Nella Cutlery & Food Equipment. Now I know, its not a kitchen job but working there gave me valuable skills,  how to start up a restaurant? What do I need? How does it all work? I also made tonnes of connections and knew that opening a restaurant is what I wanted to do. So I left my job and started at George Brown Culinary Skills.

Its been a little overwhelming, first weeks are nerve racking but I really like the idea of this blog. Its a good tool to document my journey through culinary school. I’m hoping that this blog will help me develop my online presence but also develop my style of cooking and future en-devours. One blog I love to visit and read up on great baking recipes and tips is Sally’s Baking Addiction; I highly recommend visiting this site for inspiration!

I grew up watching Julia Childs with my mother, we had all the episodes of her cooking show on DVD. Julia was inspirational, and she had such a great sense of humor throughout it all. I’ve included one of my favourite Julia Childs quotes along with my posting today. Whenever I need inspiration or a classic comfort recipe I read my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. If I had to narrow my philosophy of cooking down, its simple: Try everything, experiment and never apologize for your creativity. Things will go horribly wrong but sometimes you create magic and that, that’s all you need.

 

” The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook” – Julia Childs