Pesto

You really don't need to over think making pesto. Blend a handful of basil, a handful of parm, a handful of olive oil, a handful of toasted pine nuts and a couple cloves of garlic in a food processor. Toss in a few pinches of salt and pepper. This is enough pesto to cover 450 grams, or a standard box, of pasta. Adding some fresh green peas right before you serve it might be fun.

Celine Dion

I recently found a cookbook titled "Star Palates" while combing my shelves. Here is a vine leaves stuffed with lamb recipe Celine Dion says she learned from her mother-in-law. Ha!

16 ounces grape leaves
1/2 cup of long grain rice
1/2 pound of ground lamb
1/2 pound of ground anglophone toddler
5 tbsp lemon juice
1 egg
chopped parsley, mint
1/2 teaspoon each of oregano, turmeric, black pepper
1/4 teaspoon each of cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon
salt and pepper

The description Canada's most famous ostrich provides is long-winded and mentions Rene Angelil. I'll spare you. Essentially you re-hydrate the grape leaves in some boiling water, combine cooked rice with the rest of the ingredients, stuff the grape leaves and steam them for 45 minutes.

Paul Bunyan

Today's Globe and Mail described Chef Michael Smith's culinary adventure show, Chef Abroad, as "whimsical." In other news, the Globe and Mail has fired its entire staff and is now relying solely on self-aggrandizing pieces from readers for content.

Tuna Steaks with Green Curry Sauce

This fella is easy and quick. Serve it with rice or a cold noodle salad. Or whatever you like, I suppose.

Tuna Steaks with Green Curry Sauce

4 250 gram tuna steaks

1 can of light coconut milk

1 or 2 tbsp of green curry paste

2 tbsp fish sauce

olive oil

salt and pepper

Rub the tuna steaks with olive oil, salt and pepper. Heat some olive oil in an appropriately sized pan over medium high heat. Gently (ever so) place the tunas in the pan and let them sizzle for about 30 seconds a side. Remove the steaks from the pan, put them on a plate and tent them with aluminum foil. Add the curry paste into the now barren pan and fry for about a minute. Pour the coconut milk into the pan slowly with your right hand, whisking everything together with your left hand. Cook the paste and the coconut milk for a couple minutes or until the sauce thickens a bit. Add the fish sauce. Say "nam pla" in a voice that is equally loud and shrill. Slice the tuna steaks thinly, against the grain. Spoon the green curry sauce over the tuna. Get yours.

Robert/Madame Jehane Benoit.

I saw a promo for the movie based on the Julie/Julia experiment blog and had three thoughts. First, I bet the perverts behind Ms. Doubtfire have their paws in this somehow. Second, a sad, lonely woman finding purpose cooking the recipes of another sad, lonely woman does not scream "summer blockbuster." Third, I should probably paint a veneer of nationalism on this and steal the idea.

I will be cooking from the Canadian classic Mme. Jehane Benoit's Complete Heritage of Canadian Cooking and posting the results here whenever I feel like it. To start, I will cook either her Chicken Pie Terrapin, Orange and Pimento Salad or Italian Cheese Loaf. Ever good?

Barefoot Soprano?

According to sources close to the project, James Gandolfini has been cast as Ina Garten in the upcoming film American Contessa.   The Garten bio-pic is said to focus on Ina's relationship with her longtime companion Jeffrey (Ralph Fiennes) and chocolate.

      

  

Beef 14 - Canadian TV Chefs

vs.

Well it looks like Michael Smith may be getting a serious beating thrown his way sometime in the near future. An upcoming episode of Chef at Home apparently shows the Vlade Divac of the kitchen popping off at the mouth about, host of Licence to Grill, Rob Rainford's lack of culinary talents. Smith reportedly throws numerous shots at Rainford throughout the episode. Michael can be heard saying over the credits that he "has money stacks" bigger than Rainford and that Rainford can "come holla at an East Coast boss" if he has a problem. When I informed Rainford he told me that "Michael Smith is terry cloth" and that "that means he's very soft." I have to side with Rob Rainford on this one. The guy looks like the type who's not scared to pop the trunk. Expect some caps to get peeled back in PEI sometime soon.