Food!

For those of you who might not know, I love food! If I could eat all day (with about 3/4 of it being dessert), I would. When my alarm goes off in the morning, the first thing I think about (and the thing that most often gets me out of bed) is what I will eat for breakfast. Call me crazy, but I am definitely one of those fortunate souls who lives to eat, and not the other way around.

Not only do I love to eat food, I love preparing it. I love to bake more than anything, but cooking is also usually a joy. Now don't get me wrong; there are certainly times when I'd rather order a pizza for dinner than come up with something good to make for me and Joe, but usually, I love seeing what I can come up with off the top of my head. (A technique that is trumpeted on one of my favourite Food Network shows, Chef at Home, where Chef Michael Smith cooks without a recipe - letting fresh ingredients, whimsical desires and childhood memories lead him to creating tasty meals for his young family). I credit this still-emerging ability of mine to watching cooking shows when I was growing up, to pouring over cookbooks as if they are novels, and to my Mom letting me experiment in the kitchen. Through these, I learned what flavours go together; what naturally compliments or contrasts.

I'm still learning, of course. And I'm still watching my cooking shows. Other than wandering over to CTV to watch Lost on Wednesday nights, the TV rarely leaves the Food Network (www.foodtv.ca) - that wonderful treasure trove of cooking tips and baking techniques, of travel, competition, and entrepreneurs -- all with a food-focused flair that I just can't get enough of. It is here where I get many of my ideas; of using breadcrumbs and ground toasted almonds, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil as a crunchy, nutty, heavenly sauce substitute for pasta with richly roasted red peppers and oh-so-creamy goat cheese; or that boiling mere water with a couple of tablespoons of sugar will result in a golden, sweet caramel syrup that's the perfect topping for fresh peaches and blueberries, vanilla frozen yogurt and crushed oatmeal cookies.

My love for cooking is such that I can't wait to invite people over for a meal. While I do get super-stressed preparing these meals (as Joe has unfortunately witnessed) there really isn't anything better than working hard to produce something wonderful that everyone loves. There was a time when I wanted to be a chef, and I still dream of owning my own restaurant.

If I could eat all the desserts I wanted without gaining weight, I'd bake every day. I yearn to do so when I haven't in a while, and will often dream up excuses to make some apple spice muffins, a batch of chocolate chip cookies (thanks Aunt Sharon for letting me in on your secret to super-soft and chewy cookies every time!), or a lemon poppyseed pound cake.

And although I like to experiment with ingredients and techniques, I find that simple is usually the way to go. Which is something that was confirmed when watching tonight's episode of Iron Chef America, one of my Food Network addictions. In it, two experienced chefs face off, using one common ingredient and anything else they desire. Their dishes are judged by a panel of three, and a winner is crowned. Tonight's "secret ingredient" was ostrich. One chef used her hoity-toity fancy-schmancy ideas to incorporate the ostrich meat (their eggs where also used - one of which is roughly equivalent to 2-dozen chicken eggs), as most of the chefs on the show often do (think super-gourmet ingredients like foie gras, porcini foam, truffles and caviar). The winner, however, was a southern man whose upbringing on good ol' home cookin' still influences his cooking style. He used the ostrich in old fashioned pot pie; roasted it so it resembled a juicy roast beef with a delicate gravy; and ground it into ostrich burgers accompanied by homemade potato chips. He certainly added some new twists, but all in all, it was good, traditional comfort food - and the judges raved, noting his penchant for keeping things simple. He won by a landslide.

There's always room for experimentation -- for new ingredients, international flavours and unique twists on something old. But all in all, this southern chef's win tonight shows that deep down, what people really want (even if they try to pretend otherwise) is rich, delicious dishes that remind of us home, and familiar flavours that not only warm our stomachs but our hearts as well.
Until next time,
A.