Quiche: It’s all in the crust
The famed egg and cheese dish is for real men, real women and anyone who isn't afraid to experiment with leafy greens
By Louise Crosby
When my Mom goes out for lunch, nothing makes her happier than to have quiche, slightly warmed with a bit of salad on the side. She has a point: quiche done well, with a crisp yet tender, flaky crust and a creamy custard filling, is a wonderful thing.
This recipe, part Julia Child and part Martha Stewart, all revised by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen and then tweaked again by me (things do get recycled!) is classic. Leeks are braised with water, butter and salt until they’re soft and sweet, and the mushrooms are sautéed in butter with a splash of port until slightly caramelized. Once cooled, the vegetables are added to the egg-and-milk custard and poured into a baked pastry shell. Swiss or Gruyère cheese is sprinkled on top and into the oven it goes.
I extended the cooking time for the pâte brisée because it’s important that the ...
Remembrance Day Special: Paying homage to the ‘Moon’
Rod Mickleburgh traces personal roots to exhume the history of more than 1,500 Canadians who defied their own government to fight for freedom, and the losing side of the Spanish Civil War
By Rod Mickleburgh
I have more than a few books about the tragic Spanish Civil War. Yet I can barely bring myself to read them. Well, except for Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell’s bittersweet, affecting memoir detailing both the heroic commitment of those who fought for a republican Spain and the bloody witch hunt by hard-line Stalinists against those fighting with the anarchists. I just find it all so depressing. In addition to the millions of Spaniards caught up in the ferocious struggle, thousands of young idealists from all over the world headed off to Spain, fired by a zeal to fight fascism and support a democratically-elected government that sought to make progressive change. The issues could not have been more black and white. The conflict has been rightly labelled ‘the last ...
Amy Winehouse documentary delivers shivers
Asif Kapadia allows his camera to become an emotional confessional to his subjects in the profoundly moving Amy, a documentary portrait of another musical luminary prematurely darkened by a deep love deficit
Pop Culture Decoder: Why I hate 21 Day Fix
Misty Harris longs to shed the dead weight of dieters from social media
By Misty Harris
I loathe 21 Day Fix with the fire of 1,000 Hades suns. Not because I’ve actually tried the fad diet, mind you; I have not. I hate it with the special kind of aversion reserved for things so repellent,* you know without a second thought that they’re not for you (think KFC’s Double Down Dog, or Donald Trump’s presidential bid).
Some background: 21 Day Fix is a “lifestyle” program marketed by Beachbody, the multinational responsible for P90X, Insanity, Focus T25 and other previous fitness/diet crazes. People pay to go on it, lose weight, then are given the option to become “coaches” – that is, recruiting others to buy into the program – in exchange for commissions and a company discount.
In summary:
Friend goes on the Fix
Friend posts fitness and food statuses five times a day on every social media account, and urges you to join his or her ...
Movie review: Madame Bovary doesn’t measure up
The latest film adaptation of Flaubert's classic novel presents a petulant heroine who seems to be seeking distraction rather than romance, writes Jay Stone
By Jay Stone
Poor old Emma Bovary: lost in dreams of love, dead of grief, adapted into a lot of movies that — like the men who abandoned her — never quite measured up. The latest screen version (and the first directed by a woman) presents Gustave Flaubert’s tragic story as a drama about a woman who is not so much seduced by notions of romanticism as given to adultery and materialism because there’s not much else to do. You suspect that had the Internet been invented in 19th Century France, this Emma would have been content with video games and Amazon.
She’s played by Mia Wasikowska, who can project strength (in Tracks) or exotic abandon (Only Lovers Left Alive) or even lush yearning (Jane Eyre). Here though, under the direction of Sophia Barthes, she’s not much more than a petulant ...
RETRO RECIPE: Salade de laitue
This treasure from Tante Marie's turn of the century cookbook, Cuisine de Famille, is called Lettuce Salad. So let us salad.
(Translated from the French)
This salad must be made with care, because in the cavities and folds of the lettuce leaf, you will often find insects. You have to remove them, as you must also remove the larger leaves from the outer core of the lettuce head. Wash all the leaves well. Once you've removed the big leaves, you will arrive at the heart of the lettuce. Leave that heart the size of an egg, then cut it into quarters. Let the leaves dry, put them in a salad bowl with finely chopped tarragon and decorate with hard-boiled eggs. Season with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar. Bon appetit!
Because so much of human history, and family memory, revolves around food, we're introducing Retro Recipe -- a new, and we hope regular, feature that looks at the cookbooks and family recipes of previous generations in a bid to better understand our bellies ...
Affirm a rose-tinted outlook with strawberry lemonade
A day digging in the garden and redesigning the backyard beds demands a thirst-quenching quaff, so squeeze some lemons and squish some berries for a sweet take on a standard
By Louise Crosby
A perfect day for me this time of year starts with a drive south out of the city, a Jesse Winchester rock and roll tune blasting out the windows. I am in a very good mood because I am making yet another trip to the garden centre for another plant specimen, a variety of bush or tree that will have been analyzed to death. How big does it grow? How much sun does it need? Where will it go? The re-design of the back garden, triggered when a large diseased maple tree was taken down last fall, is well underway. I finally have more sun to play with.
So far I have planted the following this spring: a Maypole Colonnade flowering crab, the kind that grow up rather than out in a spread; a Salix Hakuro Nishiki dappled willow standard; a weeping larch; a cute little Bailcarol spirea; a Spring Delight ...
Magic Mike XXL has man-candy but no mojo
Steven Soderbergh's dark horse is turned into a gelding at the hands of director Gregory Jacobs, who squeezes his manly talent too hard, and turns off the ladies with crass crotch grabs and dull conversation, writes Katherine Monk
