Blog Post List

This blog post list contains the most recent blog posts from The Messy Baker in reverse chronological order. You can also browse by recipe category or use the search function.

During the chocolate demonstration, Derrick made this decorative chocolate drizzle for Emily. As in Emily Richards. I'm not jealous. Really. After all, my name's too long. And too hard to spell. So demonstrating chocolate script with "Emily" makes sense. I guess. After Derrick showed off demonstrated, he...

I know that when I see a recipe calling for basically three desserts rolled into one, I skip it in favour of something simpler, like cookies. But if you think about it, pie is two desserts in one. The crust and then the filling. And many squares -- say a classic Canadian Nanaimo -- require two or three steps. So don't let this multi-part recipe scare you. It's actually no harder than pie and beyond delicious. In fact, during the 2-hour chocolate demonstration we not only witnessed Derrick Tu Tan Pho make ganache-filled macarons, he whipped up these beauties as well. And topped them with drizzled chocolate. Granted, we had no interruptions and a pro at the helm, but if you're busy, you can make the brownies ahead of time. Or the mousse. Or just the mousse. As an incentive, here are two of Master Chocolatier Derrick Tu Tan Pho's best tricks.

On Thursday, I asked why bother tempering chocolate and readers responded.  And a smart lot you are. In case you missed the answers, tempering chocolate not only removes the white film that develops when chocolate is exposed to humidity or temperature fluctuations,...

Shocked to learn you can put metal in a microwave to temper chocolate - The Messy Baker   This is me at chocolate class. While Elizabeth Baird looks mildly curious, I look like I'm about to have the "full bore lateral panic" my mother so often threatened. From my expression you'd think the macarons had started to dance about like extras in a scene from Fantasia. Or perhaps Master Chocolatier Derrick Tu Tan Pho was juggling knives blindfolded. But no. He's just showing us how to temper chocolate. This is me reacting as I see Derrick put a metal bowl in the microwave. Ever since my mom bought her first microwave in 1972  "Don't put metal in the microwave!" has been drilled into me. Of course, that hasn't stopped me from starting a small fire with a foil wrapper or showering the interior of the appliance with sparks from a gold-rimmed tea cup. But in all my years of melting butter and reheating cold beverages, I have never once zapped a piece of metal flatware or nuked a shiny silver mixing bowl. And there, in front of  half a dozen seasoned food writers, Derrik, who is also the Technical Consultant & Director of the Barry Callebaut Canada Chocolate Academy, put a big metal bowl of chocolate pistoles in the microwave and hit "Start." As you can see, it took all my self-control not to launch across the table and stop him.

Clearly I'm not to be trusted. One day I announce to the world that I'm not going to get all bent out of shape over photography any more and the next? While judging the 2010 Canadian Food Blog Awards I get so excited by the...

I'm not a breakfast person, but if I could eat waffles every morning, I am willing to change my position. It would indeed be the Most Important Meal of the day. While I adore waffles, waffles irons and The Christies haven't always gotten along. When I was a child my mom didn't cook waffles. She pried and chiseled them. Her fancy, family-sized, teflon-coated beast was supposed to produce giant square waffles perfect for re-toasting as snacks. No Christie waffle ever made it that far. Regardless of how she oiled or pre-heated the iron, the waffles clung to its surface like barnacles to a ship hull. At an early age, I decided waffles were something I'd be able to enjoy only in restaurants. Until now.
Legume Recipe Round Up I'm on CTV's News at Noon today talking about lentils and legumes. I'm not sure who be hosting since Kyle, my usual side kick, won't be there. Wonder if it's something I said? Or maybe he's afraid I'll make him stuff another pepper. After all, I did give him the tippy one. Whoever the host may be today, have no fear. No problematic peppers. Just some dried beans and a piece of wicked cool stainless steel kitchen equipment. I'll be discussing how to incorporate beans into your diet in ways that won't require you to book time off work -- to accommodate the supposedly long cooking time or that other reason people shy away from beans. With a reputation for hogging stove time only to make you socially unacceptable, beans are misunderstood. If you cook your own from dried (with a pre-soak done while you sleep) you:
You wouldn't know from my sleek bob cut, but I'm a rocker. A die-hard rocker, through and through. Don't get me wrong. I'm not the head-banging, metal-thrashing, ear-destroying kind. I'm the chop 'em, mince 'em, dice 'em kind. I know this because Jeffrey Elliot, coauthor of The Complete Book of Knife Skills, told me so. I interviewed him recently, and when I sheepishly confessed that I couldn't figure out how to use those ultra-popular, uber-chic Japanese knives, instead of telling me to just keep at it, he shrugged and said, "You're either a rocker or a chopper. Few people are both." Turns out Japanese knives are for choppers. Which I'm not. So my classic Western-style chef's knife can stay. Last month, I listed Complete Book of Knife Skills as one of my top picks for 2010, partially because it's the best book I've seen on this topic, but mostly because I actually use it. I keep it in the kitchen, next to the phone book, just inches from the butcher block island and my knife block. Why? Even though I have perfected my knife grip and keep the fingers of my guide hand well out of the way, I still make a lot of mistakes.

Today a piece of our topsy-turvy life returned to normal. Andrew made coffee this morning. All by himself. That three-word sentence fragment is so important I'm giving it its own line and plenty of white space. In fact, it's so important I'm going to write it again. All...