Year End Wins and New Challenges Ahead...

On the move again... 💪💨 

Newcomer Kitchen got a new kitchen space just in time for our most recent term's first food prep- product to market module for the holiday market at Evergreen Brickworks. There is so much potential in this kitchen for our Willing To Work food business program cooking events but also for taking it to another level- business start ups and expanding opportunities for our past program alumnis💥.

We've been working hard at this and the timing of the move couldn't be better. Seems like the universe is aligning for us 💫🙏

At Trinity St.Paul's United Church and Centre For Faith

Proudly introducing you to my newest group of ladies in the daytime Newcomer Kitchen  'Willing To Work' Food Business Program- Taste Elle ❤! 

In our first module, we prepared a mixed cake tasting box to learn about what goes into the business of Product to Market with traditional cakes from each of the ladies cultures for this weekend's Saturday's Farmer's Market Evergreen Brick Works. 🇮🇳🇺🇦🇱🇧🇸🇾 With holiday parties abound, this International cake box is the perfect host/hostess gift 🍰🎁!

Some have been here within a year, and all working together in a kitchen with this volume (cakes to serve 50) for the first time. It was my first cooking experience having newly moved into this beautiful church's kitchen space and it went wonderfully over two production days. By the end of the day, these ladies were like old friends laughing, helping and encouraging each other 😍! Camaraderie at it's best 😊!

Just look at their baked wares 👀🍰💓!! 

They accomplished exactly what their brand story embodies (Taste Elle) --

We are 5 spirited and nostalgic women from 4 different countries. 

We believe in preserving our cultural food traditions while adding our personal touches. 

We offer a diversity of flavours with our passion for cooking and a combined fusion of tastes. 

We invite you across continents into our home kitchens with the stories we tell. 

Feel our Spirit and Come Taste All with us!

Almost Sold Out 👏!!! #mixedcaketastingbox

What a wonderful day at Saturday's Farmer's Market @evergreen_brick_works bright and early to greet customers with our exquisite collection of cross culture traditional cakes!

These ladies (Taste Elle from Newcomer Kitchen) set up the gorgeous winter display table, arranged product, greeted customers, presented and marketed, told their stories, engaged in conversation and more. Charming and compelling, it is no wonder we were a popular booth and sold well! I just stood in the shadows, observing and smiling. They rocked it big time 👊💥!

Congratulations ladies on a very successful market day! Happy we just had enough left so we can all take a box home to savour and celebrate with our families on our hardwork! Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones! And we will go get 'em again in the new year with more learnings to succeed in more events! Cheers 🎄

One more term with the Mabelle On-line After-School Program before activities go back fully in person. The youngsters over @culturelinkto @clink_youth also had fun creating their crepes online with me with their parents support! Always proud to present at the end, these kids did great, don't you think 👏?

The history of crepes dates back to 13th century Brittany, France. It seems a housewife there accidentally dribbled some thin porridge onto a hot, flat cooktop. Since people back then weren’t inclined to waste even their smallest cooking mistakes, she ate it. The rest, as they say, is history... 🤤

Cripes... it's Crepes 😀!

It's the most wonderful time of the year ❄🎶. Hot potting that is... to nourish and warm you inside and out 🥘♨️. #holidayhotpotting

Looking for a unique gift for a loved one? How about a split pot and a copy of my Hot Pot Cookbook For Beginners (it's a year old- yay!!). 

Taken from my book, "A split pot is a shallow 4-inch deep hot pot, usually aluminum with a divider down the middle. These are commonly used for offering two broths simultaneously, a spicy broth in one and non-spicy in the other. They are inexpensive, and recommended if you love changing up the tastes or if family and guests prefer one broth over the other, such as meatless on one side (12-inch with glass lid: $25 to $40)." Look for it in most major Asian supermarkets. 

Spanning 11 Asian countries with 50 recipes on 138 pages, you can find broths from light Japanese dashi to Thailand favourite aromatic tom yum or Cambodian creamy coconut ya-hon to concoct your incredible hot pot masterpiece. Great for beginners and for hot pot lovers who want to experiment with new tastes 🤤! 

Available on Amazon.ca/.com/.uk and Chapters-Indigo 

And... that's a wrap for the year with TDSB Newcomer Services 🙏🎉!

Finished the last cooking sessions for the year at Beverly Heights Middle School, @johnpolanyici, Woodbine Middle Public School and online @culturelinkto @clink_youth with some festive fun 🎄!

We made spicy shrimp avocado rice crackers and hot spinach artichoke dip with crackers for savoury entertaining, and sweet treats- chocolate candycane bark, white chocolate cranberry pecan clusters, decorate your own sugar cookies and gingerbread people, and a refreshing cranberry mocktail with pomegranate seeds and rosemary sprigs 🌱!

May your festive holiday be a pinch of patience,

a dash of kindness,

a spoonful of laughter

and a heap of love! 💗

Keep on cooking, and see you all in 2023 with some exciting news! Cheers!

Back To Teaching In School Cooking Classes...

Back teaching cooking in person means we can smell, touch and taste again- together 🤗! It has been a busy Fall cooking programming, and I haven't had time to write a post. So catching up with all the incredible food we had dished out with many having a creative and artistic spin.

In my most recent new after school program is with Woodbine Public School grade 8 students. I always like to introduce myself with my passion for healthy eating and multicultural cooking. Started off with a delicious creamy lemony dill yogurt dip with vegetable dippers the students can prepare alongside another recipe- Mexican guacamole seem to whet their appetite for what's in store in my workshops. What better way than to challenge the students, split into teams to have some fun creating a design with their food- edible art on a platter canvas! These girls washed the vegetables, ideated and combined their artistic efforts to produce 1) a jungle- with a forest, wooded path encircling a pretty garden with a creamy yogurt dill dip in its centre. 2) a bountiful garden filled with trees, plants and flowers- rose petals carefully sliced from grape tomatoes and dill sprigs for leaves.

Great job 👏👏👏!

It was a success, as the girls asked me for the recipes and said they would eat more vegetables if they can make something yummy to dip them in. Now they can 😊.

Guacamole with blue corn chips

Flashback, to where my Fall activities started, and it was here... my mainstay post at Beverley Heights Middle School around Halloween. 

The question is whose crunchy delicious creation reigns skeleton supreme? 

Not every student celebrate Halloween door to door and some are introduced to the highly kid-anticipated event for the first time. We know it will be a day filled with sugar and junk food so why not a prelude with a healthier artistic spin- veggies and a herb yogurt dip for the skull? And Ritz spiders with a couple of critters thrown in too 🕷🕸🐜🦗🦟!?

Teaching kids cooking humbles me...

One student admitted afterwards that she judged when she saw what we were about to do. She created anyway and was blown away at how delicious the healthy food tasted. She exclaimed, this is an example of why you shouldn't judge. You just don't know until you give it a try...
Life lessons...
And it is why, I keep on, keeping on...

Thank you 💕

Taco Salad Tuesday 🌮🌮🌮🥗? SpecTACOlar 🤗! #colouryourplate #eattherainbow🌈

We covered fresh produce, then it was all about fruits in these delicious customised DIY crepes 😋...

Moving on to a high school I have been working with- John Polanyi Collegiate in an after school culinary program with teens. They are well versed in cooking and requested things like Beef Wellington and Ratatouille 😯. We don't have the time or budget to do these kinds of dishes but we can take the classes up a notch. Starting with them the week before Halloween making a pumpkin cheese ball with crackers and a spider themed seven layer dip- Mexican style.

Yes, the crumbly bright orange powder is crushed cheesy sticks!

Happily Digging In!

We got more fun in the horizon in the next class. Sushi five ways 👋...  The students went off with my instructions to prepare the ingredients and I demoed a few styles before they made their own. 

There's more ways to enjoy sushi (with or without raw seafood) than meets the eye... sure you got your classic maki roll, but try onigiri rice balls or triangles, nori taco wraps, poke bowl and the quadrant wrap.

So much fun for the family and a different kind of meal to entertain guests with by customizing to everyone's favourite fixins'... a colourful array of vegetables and protein! You don't need to worry about raw fish if you prefer to leave that to the experts at sushi restaurants, when you've got cooked eel, crab meat and shrimps at your disposal. But what makes the concept of sushi stand out? It's not just the combination of these wonderful flavours and textures but the simple base itself that forms the essence of great sushi - the vinegared rice 🍚!

The key to excellent rice, is to mix the vinegar dressing well so that the rice will be seasoned evenly. When done properly and quickly enough, the results will be glossy, and the rice tastily vinegared. Then create away 🍙🍣🍱

Great work everyone 👨‍🍳👩‍🍳👏👏👏!!

Maki sushi, poke bowl and onigiri rice balls.

DIY customised sushi tacos

Fold and wrap sushi sandwich 

Another cultural spin at the next session with meatballs two ways...

Chinese Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Pineapples

Sweet and Sour Meatballs With Pineapples
Makes 6 to 8 servings

1-1/2 lbs. ground meat of your choice ( we used part beef and part pork)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
Salt and ground pepper to taste
1 egg
1/3 cup dried bread crumbs
1 onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 each green and red peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
1-1/2 cups fresh or canned pineapple chunks
Sliced green onions, for garnish

Sweet and Sour Sauce: (makes about 3-1/2 cups)
1 cup ketchup
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar or white sugar (use less if pineapple is sweet)
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 cup water
¼ cup cornstarch (to thicken sauce)

Place ground meat into a bowl and mix well with onions, garlic, salt and pepper, egg and breadcrumbs. Let sit for ½ to 1 hour to firm. Form into 1-inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheet.

Cook meatballs on hot pan until seared and cooked through. OR/ Bake meatballs on a baking tray in 400 F preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Cover, set aside and keep warm.

Prepare the sauce: add ketchup, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce in a bowl.

Wok-fry onions and peppers in hot oil for three minutes or until crisp-tender; add the meatballs during the last minute. Pour in the sweet and sour sauce; bring to a boil. Mix cornstarch with water, and pour slowly into sauce stirring frequently. Add pineapples (optional) and toss for 30 seconds more. Garnish with sliced green onions.

Comfort favourite Meatball Stroganoff

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 package egg noodles, cooked according to package instructions
1-1/2 lbs. ground meat of your choice
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
Salt and pepper to your taste
1 egg
1/3 cup dried bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
454 g mushrooms, sliced (or use a combination of cremini, shiitakes, white and oyster)
4 cups beef broth, divided
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried thyme
5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 to 1-1/2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt

Place ground meat into a bowl and mix well with onions, garlic, salt and pepper, egg and breadcrumbs. Let sit for ½ to 1 hour to firm. Form into 1-inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheet.

Note: Cook meatballs on hot pan until seared and cooked through. OR/ Bake meatballs on a baking tray in 400 F preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

Heat oil in a skillet and cook onions over medium high until golden about two minutes.

Add cooked meatballs, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic and mushrooms and cook another three minutes. Add 3-1/2 cups of the broth, bay leaf and thyme; cover and simmer for two minutes. Mix the flour with the remaining 1/2 cup broth until lump-free and gradually stir into beef mixture. Heat to boiling for one minute, stirring constantly; reduce heat. Stir in sour cream; heat until hot. Remove bay leaves. Serve over hot cooked egg noodles.

The holidays are around the corner, and I can't wait to end the year's classes with a festive bang 🥳🎉!

AmaZing Afghani Cuisine Anyone...?

 

I've been having a love affair with Afghani food 💗🇦🇫... 

You know when you get a whiff or taste of something completely intoxicating and the only way to feed the obsession (literally) is to seek it and gorge on it... I love working with the women at Newcomer Kitchen, cooking all kinds of traditional and cultural dishes to sell to the public. Their dishes always so wonderfully flavourful and appetite whetting 🤤. At the same time, these kitchen experiences are lessons, not so much cooking as they already know how but teaching about costing, budgeting and buying the right amount of groceries so they can generate a profit after operating expenses. We plan a few pieces more and a little extra for a taste test. But that's what I mean... it's just a tasting 🙄. 

So what do you do when that aroma and deliciousness sears into your brain and taste buds after that nibble... you get it out of your system by seeking it out or Making. It. The beauty of having the ladies recipes right at my finger tips... Lucky, lucky me 🍀 

This brings me to making Afghani bolani... Homemade flatbreads stuffed with potatoes, green onion, cilantro, and green chilies then shallow fried to crispy, golden brown gorgeousness!  I've had these in Afghani restaurants but never tried making it. I had the pleasure of seeing it prepared by my student Sonita in the last term. See her recipe:

My family loved theeese!!! 

Selling yummy bolani on a rainy day at Leslieville Farmer's Market in May.

Vegetable Bolani (بولانی)
A famous fried or oven-baked folded dough wrap filled with mixed vegetables/meat and spices.

Makes about 10 bolani

Prep Time: 30 minutes 

Cook Time: 5 minutes each

1 kg all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

2 cups water 

1 tsp. Oil

Filling:

1 kg potato, large grated raw or cooked, mashed

1 large onion, chopped

1 large bunch cilantro, leaves only, chopped

1 tsp. ground red chili pepper

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper powder

For the batter: In a medium size bowl, add the flour, salt, water and oil. Mix well and knead until the dough comes together. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Mix vegetables together in a bowl. Add ground chili, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Divide dough into balls about palm-size. Roll out about 8” wide and ½” thick. Spread the vegetables on half of the flattened dough. Fold the bolani in half and crimp the seam to seal. Repeat. 

In a medium fry pan, add 1 tsp. Oil and pan-fry two bolani at a time. On low-medium heat, cook both sides until crispy and golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Bolani is traditionally served with hot sauce or yogurt and mint dip on the side. I served mine with a cilantro chutney made by finely chopping cilantro, garlic and mixing with vinegar and a bit of water, salt and pepper for a tangy garlicky zip!

This week, two Afghani ladies from my daytime program at Newcomer Kitchen whipped up warm spinach and red beans dip, juicy steamed beef dumplings (mantu) dressed with split peas, garlic yogurt and cilantro and Afghani chicken cofta as part of a mixed cultural menu for a catering gig- an engineering firm held at CSI Annex. A group that champions social networking by supporting grassroot organizations and program innovations like us. We all have a role in co-creating community 🤗!

Afghani warm spinach and red beans dip

Afghani Mantu Beef

My student with her delicious baked juicy chicken cofta.

Oh and Afghani traditional pulao- warm spiced rice with fried carrots, raisins, pistachios and almonds is crazy yum (as part of our Prepared Meals takeout menu the module before)! 

It began with grocery shopping at Iqbal's (a giant reputable South Asian and Middle Eastern grocers ❤) in Thorncliffe Park, I picked up the family kabab combo w/rice and naan from Madina Naan & Kabab- a gem of an Afghani lunch take-out nestled in a butcher shop (written up by foodie extraordinaire Suresh Doss). Omg, their fresh naaan.... 💗

Takeout Menu from Madina Naan & Kabab

And lastly, labour-intensive wholesome sweet paste (samanak) made from germinated young wheatgrass which you grow for a week then cook for 15 hours with flour, which is prepared for new year- a healthy gift from my student! Like I said... lucky, lucky me 🤗!

Afghani Samanak

Sharing one more post... What a successful event we had with our Newcomer Kitchen evening program students' catering finger foods at a Meet and Greet event for the city's immigration settlement and community outreach workers alongside our graduates!

Some of our past alumni students have gone on to own a food business. Notably, Lola (beside me right in group photo) @flawlesscuisine.ca (www.shopfreshprep.ca) cooks up Authentic African Flavours in sauces and dishes, Just like mama makes it. Other ladies, prepare their cultural foods for food events and have ideas in the pipelines. Another venture in our horizon is to expand to further support their dreams into fruition! 🌷

Newcomer Kitchen is a Not-For-Profit social enterprise established in 2016. Our mission is to provide social and economic opportunity for newcomer women interested in starting their own food businesses. Women are offered authentic work experiences and are the recipients of the revenues earned from the events.

And with that my ladies graduates including the evening group. Congrats ladies on all the great work 💐!!!

A new term begins again next week! My group has 6 Indian women and I know it will be a blast 💥!