Photo credit: Fort Collins Brewery

Beer and chocolate is not a combination that naturally appeals to me. For instance, while I’ve craved other drinks while eating chocolate (milk, coffee, even tea) I’ve never hankered for a brewski when I was indulging my chocolate craving.

Despite my own lack of imagination, others have sussed out a hidden connection and turned it into a combination that is becoming more popular – especially as St. Patrick’s Day beckons. While I can’t be sure exactly who had that first ‘aha’ moment that saw chocolate paired with stout, the first time I recall seeing it was in David Lebovitz’s book the Perfect Scoop where he presented a Guinness- Milk chocolate ice cream.

Now, this spring, the combo seems to be everywhere I turn:

• First I encountered it at my husband’s restaurant Pangaea where it takes the form of a decadent chocolate-stout bar garnish for chocolate soufflé (cause chocolate souffle needs more chocolate, right?)
• Next I saw this flavour trend as a chocolate cake (with cherries) in the February Sainsbury’s magazine
• Then, I heard via @spotlightcity on Twitter that Chocolate Barr in Stratford is making chocolate-stout truffles in honour of St. Patrick’s Day.
• Lastly, this luscious picture of Guinness brownies I saw late last week left me in a swoon.

Obviously, this flavour duo is gaining traction. What do you think? Is this an intriguing or inconceivable combination? And, if you like the idea of stout with chocolate, what recipes would you like to find? Milkshakes seem like a given place to showcase these flavours to me so if you find a recipe for a chocolatey stout shake, send it my way!

As more people use the internet, iphones and other electronics to source recipes and tips while they cook, kitchen designers are finding ways to integrate electronics into our homes in ways that make them easy and safe to use.

I’m still in the dark ages when it comes to using electronics in my kitchen: if I find a recipe online that I want to make, I usually print it out and work from a paper copy. Occasionally I’ve used my laptop or my iphone but I feel too nervous about spills and goo clogging up my computer to do that more often.

Recently I’ve heard and seen some good ideas for making computers and electronics easier to use in the kitchen. From glassed-in counter top displays that allow you to see your computer screen with no risk of damage to touch screen systems like the Yummy to table top gadgets like this little holder that keeps your iphone elevated off the counter top in a position that is easy to read while cooking.

Do you keep computers and phones far away from cooking? Or are you cooking from a computer or phone screen and saving the trees that people like me routinely kill with all this printing?

I was surprised the other day when a couple of savvy journalists I know hadn’t heard of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Granted, their beat is design and not food, but I thought that CSAs were becoming rather well known in cities like Toronto.

So, today, I give you some weekend homework: if you haven’t heard of CSAs please read on. If you have and can recommend a good one or offer tips to the uninitiated, please add a note in the comments section below.

What is a CSA? Originating in Europe about 90 years ago, CSAs offer a way to support local farmers and enjoy a ready supply of farm fresh foods. In other words, subscribing to a CSA gives you the benefits of a garden without having to get your hands dirty (think of the money you’ll save on manicures!)

How do CSAs work? To get involved, you need to find a participating farmer in your area and sign up for a produce subscription. In turn for supplying money up front in spring, you receive a weekly allotment of the farm’s harvest all summer and into early autumn. Finding a local CSA is becoming easier – especially in provinces like Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia and states like New York and California. Most areas have an online directory and many growers with farmers’ market stalls participate in these programs as well.

Are CSA’s just about vegetables? Nope. While many CSA subscriptions are for market produce (such as lettuce, tomatoes and carrots), artisans like Monforte Cheese in Stratford, ON use this system, too. “We launched a CSA program in February 2009,” notes Monforte spokesperson Maureen Argon. “People have purchased our CSAs as birthday presents, wedding presents and one man bought a $500 subscription for his parents 45th wedding anniversary.”

I’m curious, what appeals to you more: growing your own veggies, going to the farmers’ market or subscribing to a CSA? Personally, I’m keen on growing my own garden and going to the farmers’ market. I’m toying with signing up for a CSA, too though. It’s just a question of how much produce I can handle!

I went for acupuncture once. I didn’t like it; the room was cold and I just wanted to put on a sweater but, since my back was peppered with needles, I had to lie there and shiver. I suppose it would be different if I were a cold-blooded fish… which brings me to today’s topic: Fish acupuncture or, as it’s called in Japanese, kaimin katsugyo, is an acupuncture-style technique that helps sushi chefs serve the freshest fish possible even if their kitchen is located as far inland as Montreal or Chicago.

Here’s how it works. Needles are inserted into live fish to render them paralyzed and senseless. Sarah Staples explains the process in a recent Globe and Mail article:

“An acupunctured fish first falls into a sort of coma: It is brain-dead but can breathe weakly, and its central nervous functions continue during most of the overnight flight to Canada.

The fish dies in transit after about 12 hours, as oxygen reserves supplied by a saltwater-soaked padded envelope are depleted. But for several hours more, its flesh behaves as if it were still alive, the company says. In essence, the fish has become a zombie, existing in a twilight state between life and death, its normal processes of cellular decomposition arrested by those strategic pinpricks.”

If I’d read this story on April 1st or in a less reputable publication, I’d think I was being put on. I guess I grew up hearing too many horror stories about nasty people putting needles into Halloween candy, cause it just seems weird to me to put needles into food. What do you think? Is this freshness innovation weird and unnecessary or wonderfully clever?

While the rhubarb in my garden won’t be ready to pick and cook until June, this case of fresh Ontario rhubarb arrived at the test kitchen a couple of weeks ago. How is it possible? Through the ingenuity of farmers who won’t let our climate keep them idle.

I visited Lennox Farm a couple of summers ago and toured the dark barns where this rhubarb was grown. Located in Dufferin County near Shelburne, Ontario, Lennox farm is owned and operated by Bill French, a 5th generation farmer who is one of the four biggest producers of rhubarb in Ontario.

The first taste of rhubarb is always like a mouthful of spring for me. And, although I can be satisfied with rhubarb compote spooned over a buttery slice of toast, I love this yummy rhubarb studded tea loaf, too.

Rhubarb Marble Loaf

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/3 cup (75 mL) milk
1/3 cup (75 mL) lemon juice
1/2 cup (125 mL) softened butter
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1 1/2 cup (375 mL) sliced rhubarb
1/2 cup (125 mL) lightly packed brown sugar

Line a 9-x 5-in loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper and grease well. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Stir flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt. Reserve. Stir milk with lemon juice. Let stand for 5 minutes. Combine rhubarb with brown sugar in a food processor and pulse until well combined but still chunky. Reserve.

Beat butter with sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk mixture in two additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Spoon one third of the batter into the loaf pan(s). Spoon over half of the rhubarb mixture. Repeat. Top with remaining batter. Swirl a knife through the batter to marble the rhubarb and then smooth the top. Bake for 60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack.

What foods are harbingers of spring in your area? And what spring recipes do you look forward to making all winter long?

For years I’ve mooned and sighed as I leafed through my British food magazines eyeing the halloumi recipes, wishing I could get that heat resistant, yummy cheese here. Especially evocative were peppery arugla salads with lemon-laced dressings topped with golden slices of semi molten cheese – I salivate just typing such descriptions!

Finally, the halloumi trend has come to Canada. Imported halloumi is turning up at supermarkets more often, but even better, this trend has inspired local cheese makers such as the Upper Canada cheese company (that’s their grilling style cheese called Guernsey Girl pictured above) to get in on the action, too.

Besides being a great topper for salads, grilled slices of cheese are delish on sandwiches and burgers, too. So many possibilities!

What ingredient do you wish was more readily available in your area?

Mmm…ham! I find a whole, bone-in glistening ham sitting on a platter gets guests rather excited about dinner.

Although cooking a whole ham is time consuming, it’s relatively easy. In fact, when I have a big group to feed, a ham is my ‘go to it’ choice since I know that it’s good served hot, room temperature or cold.

The trick to preparing a whole ham is to remove the skin. If you leave the skin on and try to glaze it, you’ll have nothing but an inedible shell around the meat. So, as shown in the picture above, slice down through the skin but not through the fat and then just peel the skin off like a banana peel and discard before scoring the fat. Bake the uncooked ham on a rack in a shallow pan at 325°F (160°C) for 22 minutes per pound (500 g) or until the internal temperature reaches 160°F (71°C).

I usually start glazing when the ham reaches about 120°F (60°C) so that the ham is well glazed but not scorched when it comes up to the proper internal temperature.

You can make a glaze out of all kinds of stuff you have in your pantry, but these three preparations are good basics to use for reference.

1. Maple-mustard: Stir 1/4 cup (50 mL) each Dijon Mustard and maple syrup together in a small bowl. Stir in a 1 tsp (5 mL) chopped fresh tarragon.
2. Orange-ginger: Heat 1/2 cup (125 mL) orange marmalade with 1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh ginger, stirring often until blended.
3. Curried Apple: Stir 1/2 cup (125 mL) apple jelly with 1 tsp (5 mL) curry paste. Heat in microwave just until melted.

So, have you taken up my challenge to support pig farmers this month? If not, plan a party and make a whole ham! Have you ever cooked a whole fresh ham? Or, do you prefer a cooked ham that is faster to prepare?

Since it’s almost the weekend, it seems ideal to talk about pizza. After all, Saturday is said to be the biggest night of the week for eating pizza.

You know that saying that pizza is like sex: even when it’s bad it’s good? Well, if that adage is true then La Boîte, France’s second largest pizza chain, is looking to be the Casanova of thin crust.

The chain hired four Michelin-starred chefs to create truly gourmet pizzas. The first one to be announced is a gorgonzola, lardon, balsamic caramel, garden rocket and walnut pizza by Mauro Colagreco. While this combo sounds yummy, it isn’t entirely revolutionary. I wonder if the next three pizzas will contain more precious ingredients like truffles and foie gras? Time will reveal all I suppose. Here in Canada,  the CRFA says that there are more than 7,500 pizza operations. Plus, we have many more restaurants that serve more varied fare as well as pizza — some of it dubbed ‘gourmet’ on their menus so I guess we’re more accustomed to the idea of upscale pizza here than they are in France?

So, given that we are such pizza aficionados, what’s the most decadent, gourmet pizza you’ve ever eaten? And, could it replace pepperoni and mushroom or whatever traditional combo is your tried and true favourite? Or, is the fancier combo a once in a while craving?  And, more importantly if a Michelin chef designed your pizza, would you eat it with your hands?

As regular readers here know, my colleague Amy Snider-Whitson is a professional home economist. That means that she has taken loads of courses in organic chemistry and knows all about how and why food changes over time from delicious and nutritious to pure poison.

As a chef, I’m less well versed in this science and, frankly, a little loose when it comes to things like expiration dates on yogurt and such. In my opinion, if it’s been well refrigerated and looks and smells OK, I’ll eat it.

So, I was gratified to read this article about expiration dates that says that there is a three- to seven-day leeway on these dates.

What’s your habit? Do you strictly obey “best before” dates on your food or do you let your senses — and your sense of adventure — guides you?

• $1,500 for dinner for two at Joel Robuchon (good, but not great)
• $500 bottles of balsamic vinegar (and worth every drop)
• $150 kobe steaks (almost too rich to finish but so incredibly tender)

Seriously, the money we’ve spent on food and drink in this lifetime could likely feed a third world nation. (Before you lynch me, let me say that we do temper this excess with charity work and substantial donations to hunger related charities. We’re indulgent but not shameless.)

When I saw this article about $100 bowl of ramen noodles — something I always associate as a cheap dorm room tea kettle cuisine — I was simultaneously shocked and eager to try them. Which got me wondering: What do normal people think about spending their entire week’s grocery budget on a bowl of noodles? How many of you would shell out $100 to try what is said to be a sublime slurp?

PS: You can get the shirt pictured above at Zazzle.