Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 1
So, You Think You Can Cook?
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine
Contents
Recipes
5 Breakfast & Snacks | Déjeuners & collations
9 Pains | Bread
16 Fruits & Vegetables | Fruits & légumes
27 Sauces & trempettes | Sauces & Dips
31 Main Courses | Plats de résistance
35 Désserts | Desserts
40 Cleaning Products | Produits ménagères
Food for Thought
3 Eating Unprocessed Food Or, As Your homemade bread contains flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
Grandparents Called It, “Food”
9 Staff of Life: Peter Reinhart on Bread
16 Squeezed: The Secrets of the Orange
Juice Industry
19 Pucker Up! Get Your Digestive Juices Flowing!
24 Disturbing Facts About Dolphin-Safe Tuna
44 All the water that will ever be is, right now
Contributors
Jennifer Keeling, Josie Baker, Emily Elliott
2 So, You Think You Can Cook?
Eating Unprocessed Food Or,
As Your Grandparents
Called It, “Food.”
T
his cookbook is the result of a year’s worth of cooking
in the Wellington Katimavik house. All the recipes have
been tested and become favourites of at least a few of
the more than 60 participants who lived at 45 Mill Road over
the last year. Most of the recipes are intended for 4-6 people,
but can be easily doubled or tripled, in case you’re throwing a
dinner party (or hosting a group reunion.)
When I started as a Project Leader, I wanted participants to
learn to cook as much food from scratch as possible, which
is why so many processed foods were not allowed on our
shopping lists. I felt this was important for several reasons:
1. Cost. It’s usually cheaper to make foods that contain
only a few basic ingredients — like bread, mayonnaise,
hummus and spaghetti sauce — than to buy them.
2. Taste. Whether it’s the freshness of the ingredients, the
lack of unpronouncable addititves or the fact that it was
made (with love!) by actual human hands and not a series
of automated crushers and stirring vats, home-made food
generally tastes better.
3. Empowerment. Cooking at home means we know and can
control exactly what we’re putting into our bodies. Your
What’s in the stuff in the
plastic bag with a shelf- Food made with love by
life of over a week? It has actual human hands
become so easy to buy generally tastes better.
pre-fab foods that we’ve
stopped learning how
to prepare them ourselves, giving up control of how we
nourish ourselves to big business. Knowing how to cook
means we’re not slaves to the food processing companies.
4. Fun. Cooking is fun! C’mon, they don’t call it the Joy of
Cooking for nothing!
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 3
Few of us realize while growing up that we make political
statements every day with the food we put on our plates.
Katimavik was an opportunity to explore how human rights,
environment, sustainability, globalization, energy use, and
health and nutrition apply to the foods we buy. We supported
Island farmers by buying local fruits, vegetables and meats.
This also ensured that our food producers got a fair price for
their products. And, with chemical fertilizers, pesticides,
antibiotics and growth hormones now being ubiquitous in
industrial farming, buying from small, local, organic farms
increased the taste and health value of our foods. We bought
fair trade coffee, sugar and cocoa to support fair wages and
humane treatment of plantation workers in the tropics.
We bought only sustainably caught seafood. We bought
Atlantic-grown, organic, stone-milled flour. And this was just
the beginning: there are many more issues to explore and
changes we can make to our food-buying and eating habits.
While I don’t expect anyone to continue cooking from scratch
all the time, if you know how to, you at least have a choice:
buying processed food is no longer the default option. Instead,
everytime you buy a loaf of bread, you are evaluating your
priorities (cost, taste, convenience, nutritional value, etc.)
and making a choice. And in doing so, you are asserting
control over what you put in your body.
True, you may not have the luxury of being a stay-at-home
house manager, but often it only takes a little more time to
prepare foods yourself. Mayonnaise? As easy as pulling out
the blender. Hummus? Ditto. Yogurt? Isn’t that just milk? If
you’ve never made something
before, isn’t that an even
bigger argument for trying it
out? Keep cooking real food
at home and before you know
it, all you’ll have on your
plate is pure, unadulterated
Food. Bon appetit.
— Natalie Gillis
August 2010
4 So, You Think You Can Cook?
Breakfast &
Snacks
M.Y.O. Yogurt
M
aking yogurt is ridiculously easy. You just need a
little time. (And remember, reading the recipe first
doesn’t make you a bad cook!)
There are only two ingredients to yogurt: milk, and bacteria.
Now that you know this, have a look at the ingredients of
most yogurts at the grocery store. You’ll be surprised by how
many of those so-called yogurts aren’t really yogurt at all.
Ingredients:
• 2 litres milk (whatever fatness you like)
• 2 tbsp. live-culture plain yogurt, like Astro Balkan Style
Directions:
1. Create a hot water jacket by placing a smaller pot inside
a bigger one and filling the bigger pot with water until
it’s half-way up the smaller pot. Pour the milk into the
smaller pot and set on high heat on the stove. This heats
the milk while preventing it from burning.
2. Heat milk to 180°F. If you don’t have a candy
thermometer (a cheap one costs around $4), this is the
temperature where the milk begins to sputter and steam,
like for a cappuccino.
3. Take the milk off the heat and cool quickly to 110°F by
putting the pot in a sink full of cold water. If you don’t
have a thermometer, 110°F is about baby-bottle warm.
4. Add the yogurt starter. Stir and cover. The key now
is simply to keep the yogurt undisturbed at the right
temperature for the next 8–10 hours. Yogurt culture
works best around 110°F. If it gets too hot, it dies, if it gets
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 5
 too cold, it starts to hibernate. Preheat the oven to the Metaphorical Bran Muffins
lowest temperature, then turn it off and put the pot inside
with the oven light on. The heat from the bulb will keep Ingredients:
the yogurt warm. Do not stir! • 3 tbsp. baking soda • 2 tsp. salt
• 2 c. bran • 2 c. raisins
5. After 8-10 hours, the yogurt will have reached your • 2 c. boiling water • 1 litre buttermilk
desired acidity (the lactose in the milk is being turned • 1 c. vegetable oil • 5 c. flour
into lactic acid, so the longer you leave it, the more acidic • 3 c. white sugar • 4 c. bran flakes (or
it will be). Stir it and store it in the fridge. I usually drain • 4 eggs 2 c. bran)
some of the liquid off the top before stirring to make it
a little thicker. If you want super-thick yogurt (like for Directions:
tzatziki), line a colander with a clean tea towel and drain 1. To make buttermilk: stir 2 tbsp. lemon juice into 1 litre of
your yogurt in it. Keep the liquid, which is basically milk, and let sit 1 hour. Or, use buttermilk from your last
buttermilk, for your next batch of bran muffins. batch of yogurt.

6. Make sure you keep a couple tablespoons of yogurt to use 2. Stir boiling water into baking soda and 2 c. bran.
as starter for your next batch.
3. Mix oil, sugar and eggs together.

4. Combine bran mixture with egg mixture, then stir in all

Everyone’s Fave Cornmeal Muffins remaining ingredients except bran flakes. Try not to over-
mix.
Ingredients: • 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. flour • 2 beaten eggs 5. Fold bran flakes (or additional bran) into mixture. Batter
• 1 c. cornmeal • 1 c. milk will be thin but will thicken up in the fridge.
• 3/4 tsp. salt • 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 4 tsp. baking powder 6. Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes. Makes 5 dozen, but batter
keeps in fridge for up to a week.
Directions:
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
“The secret message communicated to most young people
today... is that they are not needed, that society will run
2. Stir wet ingredients together, then add to dry. Mix until
itself quite nicely until they — at some distant point in
just combined. Do not overmix, or your muffins will be
the future — take over the reigns. Yet the fact is that
chewy instead of soft and crumbly! (This is true for all
society is not running itself nicely... [we] need all the
baked goods except bread, which should be chewy.)
energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people
can bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to
3. Bake at 425° F for 20 minutes. Try to let them cool before
attempt to solve its desperate problems without the full
devouring (with butter and honey or, if you want to be a
participation of even very young people is imbecile.”
real Acadian, molasses!).
— Alvin Toffler
Makes one dozen.

6 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 7

 Gran-hola, Como Estas?
T Pains
his is a great granola recipe. It’s easy, it’s nut free,
and it smells delicious when it’s cooking (which will
convince everyone to eat it!) It’s also very high in
vegetarian protein. It’s based on a recipe from the internet,
and I first made it for a community kitchen I coordinated in
Montreal. Now it’s a staple in my Katimavik house.
—Josie Baker
(Charlottetown PE)
Ingredients:
• 8 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup sesame seeds
• 4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
• 2 cups coconut (unsweetened)
• 1 cup cooking oil (not olive)
• 2 cups honey
Directions:
1. Mix the oat, nuts and grains in
a large roasting pan.
2. Add oil and honey and toss until evenly coated.
3. Bake at 315°F for 40 minutes, turning with a spatula
every ten minutes or so. You want everything to be an
even golden brown. After it’s cooked, add raisins and
dried fruit. Feel free to add nuts instead of seeds. Enjoy!
Food for Thought:
The committee that revamped the latest version of
Canada’s Food Guide was made up of 12 people, including
industry representatives from the the Vegetable Oil
Industry Council, the BC Dairy Foundation and the Food
and Consumer Product Manufacturers of Canada, which
represents some of the biggest food processing companies
in the country.
8 So, You Think You Can Cook?
From starch guts to the Staff of Life
Master breadmaker Peter Reinhart from his 2007 TED talk
(www.ted.com) on what makes bread so special:
“L
et’s look at the 12 stages in the journey of wheat.
We start with the first stage, and everyone who
works in the culinary world knows that the first
stage of cooking is “mise en place,” which is just a French way
of saying, “get organized.” Everything in its place. First stage.
Stage two is mixing. We take the ingredients and we mix
them. There’s no gluten in flour, only the potential for gluten,
so in the mixing process we have to develop the gluten,
activate the yeast, and distribute all the ingredients evenly.
Then we get into fermentation, the third stage, which is really
where the flavor develops. The yeast comes alive and starts
eating the sugars, creating carbon dioxide and alcohol —
essentially it’s burping and sweating, which is what bread is.
It’s yeast burps and sweat. This is later transformed, which is
what makes bread so special: it is a transformational food.
After it’s fermented and it’s started to develop flavor and
character, we divide it into smaller units, and then we take
those units and we shape them. That’s called “rounding.”
And there’s a short rest period. It can be for a few seconds, or
for 20 or 30 minutes. We call that resting or benching. Then
we go into final shaping, “panning” — putting the shaped loaf
on a pan. This takes a second, but it’s a distinctive stage.
And then, stage nine. The fermentation that started at stage
three is continuing through all these stages, developing
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 9
flavour. The final fermentation takes place in stage nine. We
call it “proofing,” to prove the dough is alive. We get the dough
to the final shape, and then it goes into the oven — stage 10.
Three transformations take place in the oven. The sugars in
the dough caramelize in the crust to give us that beautiful
brown crust. Inside, the proteins — gluten — coagulate. When
it gets to about 160° C, the proteins all line up and they
create the gluten structure — what ultimately we will call the
crumb of the bread. And the starches, when they reach about
180° C degrees, gelatinize.
And gelatinization is yet another oven transformation.
Coagulation, caramelization and gelatinization — when the
starch is thick and they absorb all the moisture that’s around
them, they swell and burst and spill their guts into the bread.
So basically now we’re eating yeast sweats, burps and starch
guts. Transformed in stage 10 in the oven, because what went
into the oven as dough comes out in stage 11 as bread.
Stage 11 we call cooling — because we never really eat the
bread right away, there’s a little carry-over baking. The
proteins have to set up, strengthen and firm up.
And then we have stage 12, which the textbooks call
“packaging,” but my students call “eating.”
I want to go back now and revisit these steps from the
standpoint of transformation, because I believe that all things
can be understood on four levels: the literal, the metaphoric,
the political or ethical and, ultimately, the mystical level. It’s
hard to get to those levels unless you go through the literal.
But let’s look at these stages again from the standpoint of
connections to a deeper level — in my quest to answer the
question, “What is it about bread that’s so special?”
Bread begins as wheat. But what’s wheat? Wheat is a grass.
And, like all grasses, it puts out seeds. And we harvest
those seeds, the wheat kernels. Now, harvesting is just a
euphemism for killing, right? In harvesting it, we kill it.
Wheat is alive, and as we harvest it, it gives up its seeds.
With seeds we have the potential for future life. We can plant
10 So, You Think You Can Cook?
those in the ground. But most of those seeds get crushed and
turned into flour. And at that point, the wheat has suffered
the ultimate indignity. It’s not only been killed, but it’s been
denied any potential for creating future life.
So the first transformation is alive to dead. We’ve now got
flour. And what do we do? In stage two, we add water and
salt to it, mix it together, and we create clay. We infuse that
clay with an ingredient that we call “leaven.” In this case, it’s
yeast, but yeast is leaven. What does leaven mean? Leaven
means “to enliven — to vivify, to bring to life.” By the way,
what’s the Hebrew word for clay? Adam. You see, the baker
in this moment has become, in a sense, the god of his dough,
which is now alive. And we know it’s alive because in stage
three, it grows. Growth is the proof of life.
While it’s growing, all these literal transformations are
taking place. Yeast is eating sugar and turning it into carbon
dioxide and alcohol. Personality and character is being
developed in this dough under the watchful gaze of the baker.
And the baker’s choices all along the way determine the
outcome of the product. That’s the art of baking.
At stage 10, we take it to the oven. It’s still dough. Nobody
eats dough — it’s not the staff of life, right? Bread is the staff
of life. But dough is what we’re working with, and we take
that dough into the oven. As soon as the interior temperature
of that dough reaches 140° C, it passes the “thermal death
point.” All life ceases there. The yeast, whose mission it has
been up till now to raise the dough, to enliven it, has to give
up its life in order to complete its mission. What goes in is
dough, what comes out is bread — or it goes in alive, comes
out dead. Third transformation. First transformation, alive to
dead. Second transformation, dead brought back to life. Third
transformation, alive to dead — but dough to bread.
And it’s what comes out of the oven that is what we call the
staff of life. This is the product that everyone in the world
eats, that is so difficult to give up. It’s so deeply embedded in
our psyches that bread is used as a symbol for life. It’s used
as a symbol for transformation.”
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 11
 Pain de blé entier facile
Ingrédients:
• 2 1/2 t. d’eau chaude
• 1 c/soupe cassonade
• 1 c/soupe levure sèche active
• 1 c/soupe sel
• 3 t. farine de blé entier
• 3 t. farine blanche
Directions:
1. Verser l’eau chaude dans un grand bol. Ajouter la
cassonade et saupoudrer la levure sur la surface de l’eau.
2. Après quelques minutes, quand la levure remonte a la
surface en faisant des bulles, y incorporer la moitié de la
farine et bien pétrir, jusqu’à ce que la pâte deviènne molle
et extensible (environ 10 minutes) .
3. Ajouter le sel et le reste de la farine, tasse par tasse en
mélangeant bien. Travailler la pâte dans le bol jusqu’à ce
qu’elle cesse d’être collante, après quoi on la retoune sur
une table enfarinée.
4. Pétrir la pâte sur la couche de farine, en poussant et
pliant jusqu’à ce que la pâte soit lisse et élastique au
toucher. La remettre alors dans le bol et couvrir jusqu’à ce
qu’elle double de volume.
5. Graisser deux moules à pain. Diviser la pâte en deux
et aplatir les deux moitiés, leur faconnant une forme
oblongue de la longueur des moules. Glisser les miches
dans les moules et pousser sur le pourtour des cotés, de
facon à ne pas emprisonner d’air.
6. Couvrir les moules et laisser la pâte encore jusqu’à ce
qu’elle double de volume.
7. Chauffer le four a 375° F quand la pâte achève de lever.
Mettre au four pour environ 40 minutes. Retirer des
moules et laisser refroidir sur une grille avant de servir.
12 So, You Think You Can Cook?
Pita Bread
Ingredients:
• 1 c. warm water • 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. yeast • 3 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar or honey
Directions:
1. Place the water in a medium-sized bowl and stir in sugar
or honey and salt. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand for
five minutes until foamy.
2. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing enthusiastically.
Knead the dough in the bowl for a few minutes, adding up
to 1/2 cup more flour as needed.
3. When dough is smooth, oil the bowl and top of the dough,
cover with a clean, wet tea towel and let rise in a warm
place until the dough has doubled, about an hour.
4. Punch down the dough and transfer to a clean, floured
surface. Knead it for about 5 minutes, then divide into
6 or 12 equal pieces (depending on the size of pitas you
want).
5. Knead each piece for a few minutes, then roll into a circle
no thicker than 1/8 of an inch. Let the circles rest for 30
minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 500° F. Brush baking tray with oil
and dust with cornmeal. Place circles on tray without
overlapping, and bake for 4-6 minutes, until puffed up and
just lightly browned.
7. Remove from the oven and wrap pitas with a damp tea
towel for 15 minutes to keep them supple. To make crispy,
pitas, bake for around 10 minutes and cool on a rack.
“All sorrows are less with bread.”
— Miguel de Cervantes
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 13
 Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
• 1 c. warm water • 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. yeast • 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. sugar • 2 tbsp. semolina or
• 1/2 tsp. salt corn meal
Directions:
1. Combine yeast, salt, sugar and water in a bowl and let
stand in a warm place for 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Sift flour into another bowl and make a well in the centre.
Add the yeast mixture and mix to a dough.
3. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for
5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Let the
dough rest for 5-10 minutes before proceding.
4. For thick-crust pizza, roll dough out to a 35 cm round. For
thin-crust pizza, divide dough in half and roll out each
half to a 35 cm round.
5. Brush a 30 cm pizza tray with oil and sprinkle with
semolina or cornmeal (this helps keep the crust from
sticking to the pan and gives it a nice finish).
6. Place dought onto tray and tuck edges under to form a
rim. Top with your favourite toppings and cook for
15-20 minutes in a hot (400° F) oven.
“Listen to me: Television is not the truth! Television is
a God-damned amusement park! Television is a circus,
a carnival, a travelling troupe of acrobats, storytellers,
dancers, singers, jugglers, side-show freaks, lion tamers,
and football players. We’re in the boredom-killing
business! So if you want the truth... Go to God! Go to your
gurus! Go to yourselves! Because that’s the only place
you’re ever going to find any real truth.”
— Network (1976)
14 So, You Think You Can Cook?
Chili Bread (a.k.a. Leftover Bread)
T
his is another great recipe for a Katimavik house. I
originally made it on a dare during orientation week.
We had a giant pot of leftover chili that wasn’t going
to be eaten, and I suggested it could be made into bread. The
incredulous response was all the motivation I needed!
Really, this bread can be made with any vegetarian leftovers
that can be smoothly processed in a blender. I’ve also made
great bread with an unpopular carrot curry
soup!
—Josie Baker
(Charlottetown PE)
Ingredients:
• 2 tbsp. yeast • leftover chili
• 2 tbsp. sugar (or soup, curry,
• flour oatmeal, whatever)
Directions:
1. Put the chili through the blender until it’s smooth. You
may need to add some water, and that’s just fine.
2. Take a couple cups of blended leftovers out and heat until
just warm; add a couple tablespoons of sugar and yeast.
Let sit until the yeast has started growing into a sponge.
3. Add the sponge back to the chili, and start mixing flour in,
two cups at a time, until it’s thick enough to knead.
4. Continue kneading until you have a soft dough. Let rise
until you know it’s crazy alive… like double its bulk.
5. Divide into loaves and put it into pans, and let rise again.
Don’t skimp on the rising, cause you want this to work,
and if it doesn’t everyone will think it was a dumb idea.
6. When it’s nice and risen put it in a 350°F oven for like half
an hour or so until done! Voila! Chili bread!
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 15

Fruits &
Vegetables
Squeezed: OJ’s dirty little secrets
From the Smithsonian’s Food & Think blog, posted in April
2010 by Amanda Bensen.
T
here are some food truths we
hold to be self-evident, and one
of them is that orange juice
is inherently good. It’s packed with
vitamin C; it’s what your mom tells
you to drink when you feel a cold
coming on; it looks like sunshine in a
glass. Plus, it’s delicious.
Those things are true, but Alissa
Hamilton’s book “Squeezed: What
You Don’t Know About Orange Juice”
reveals some other truths.
Things weren’t always this way. The ubiquitous presence
of pasteurized orange juice in chilled cartons, all tasting
basically the same, dates back only to the 1960s. That’s when
the FDA began regulating and standardizing OJ, and decided
what consumers did and didn’t need to know about it.
As a result, despite what advertisers claim, most orange juice
is neither fresh nor natural (not in the way most of us would
define those terms). Think about it; how could it be truly
fresh year-round, when oranges are a seasonal product?
Sure, it may be “not from concentrate,” but raw juice is
often heated, stripped of its volatile compounds and flavor-
rich oils, and stored for as long as a year before it reaches
the consumer. Something called “the flavor pack” is used to
return most of the “natural” aroma and taste to the product,
Hamilton explains:
16 So, You Think You Can Cook?
“The flavor is sourced from all parts of oranges everywhere…
Typically, the orange oils and essences that juice
concentrators collect during evaporation are sold to flavor
manufacturers, who then reconfigure these by-products…
into ‘flavor packs’ for reintroduction into orange juice.”
Often, those by-products come from other countries and may
contain unknown pesticide residues, but the producers don’t
have to disclose that.
And as one citrus flavor researcher told Hamilton, replicating
nature’s complexity is extremely difficult: “Right now the
formula for fresh [orange] flavors is just about as elusive as
the formula for Coke.”
In other words, that’s why it tastes so much better when you
actually take a bunch of fresh oranges and squeeze them
yourself.
Hamilton is careful to explain that she’s not against orange
juice, she’s against deceptive marketing and believes
consumers have a right to know what they’re buying:
The history of processed orange juice and its marketing
highlights the fact that as a society we tend not to care too
much about deceptive
advertising unless the Despite what advertisers
product being pushed is claim, most orange juice is
measurably harmful… As neither fresh nor natural.
the gap in both geographic
and mental miles between
consumer and store bought food has widened, the role
of product promotion as a source of product information
has grown.
The bigger problem isn’t juice, but rather “food ignorance.”
Deceptive, misleading or overly simplistic messages from
both government and industry in recent decades have
contributed to “the average consumer’s obliviousness to
where and how that individual’s food is produced,” Hamilton
concludes, which could have serious consequences for their
own health, the environment and the economy.
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 17
 Sesame Garlic Broccoli
Ingredients:
• 2 tsp. sesame seeds
• 2 heads of broccoli
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tbsp. chili sauce (our your favourite hot sauce)
• 3 tsp. light soy sauce
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spread sesame seeds in a single
layer on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes
until fragrant and golden. When done, remove seeds from
pan to stop cooking.
2. Cut the broccoli into bite-sized florets.
3. Mix the garlic, sesame oil, chili sauce and soy sauce.
4. Steam the broccoli until it turns bright green and reaches
desired tenderness.
5. Place broccoli in serving bowl, drizzle sauce over top and
mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Don’t throw away your broccoli stems! Cut off the bottom
inch or so, which is tough and fibrous, and peel off the outer
skin with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Split and quarter
stems lengthwise; the inner part is tender and a little sweet.
Cook as usual, or use as veggie sticks.
“I think 50% of cooking is technique, and a lot of people
don’t learn the technique and rely on recipes as a crutch.
Throw yourself into the kitchen. Learn about ingredients,
not just knowing that fennel is green with white bulbs,
but fennel tastes like licorice and goes well with other
flavours like citrus and beef.”
— Marc Matsumoto (Norecipes.com)
18 So, You Think You Can Cook?
Pucker Up! Get Your
Digestive Juices Flowing!
N
ot long ago, I came across a neat article about sour
and tart foods and how they play a crucial role as
solvents in our digestive system. Solvents help to
break down rich and fatty foods. The more broken down the
foods we eat are, the easier it is for our body to absorb and
to use the nutrients. Sour foods can also improve circulation
and, according to traditional Chinese medicine, clarity of
mind — and who can’t use that?
According to the principles of Ayurveda (“the science of life”
that has been practised in
India for over 5000 years), Sour foods can improve
foods are divided into circulation and with
six flavours: sweet, sour, clarity of mind — and who
astringent, bitter, pungent, can’t use that?
and salty. Each taste offers
different health benefits
and, depending on our individual constitutions, each person
requires more or less of these tastes.
The sour taste comes from a variety of acids that naturally
occur in some foods. The Latin word for acid, “acidu,”
literally translates to “sour.” The most familiar acid is citric
acid, found in lemons and limes, but other types include
ascorbic acid (vitamin C), lactic acid (found in soured
milk products) and malic acid (found in apples and wine).
Ascorbic acid comes from the Latin “a” (no) and “scorbutus”
(scurvy) and is an essential nutrient to combat scurvy.
Scientists believe that
Start the day with a squeeze humans used to produce
of lemon in water to jump- our own ascorbic acid, but
start your metabolism. that we’ve lost this ability
and must now ingest it.
This is another reason to
eat a wide variety of flavours and colours. Adding sour foods
to our diets is vital and super easy!
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 19
Try this: Nutty Quinoa Medley
• Use a lemon or lime with oil for a salad dressing.
• Include a side dish of yogurt with meals. Ingredients:
• Add a piece of uncoloured cheese to breakfast. • 1 cup cooked quinoa • 1 tsp cinnamon
• Snack sour on fruits like tamarinds, green grapes and • 1 tbsp raisins • 1 tbsp dried mint
apples at break times. • 1 tbsp hulled pumpkin seeds • ½ lime, juiced
• Start the day with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice in a • 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
glass of water to help rev up your digestive system and • 7 – 10 chopped pecans
jump start your metabolism (Ayurvedic tradition calls • 7 – 10 almonds
this ignition of digestion “agni,” the digestive fire). • 4 – 8 dried apricots, quartered

Suggested sour foods: Directions:

• lemons and limes 1. Boil 2 cups of water.
• cheese
• tamarinds 2. Add quinoa and lime juice to the water. After 5–7 minutes,
stir in the rest of the ingredients (except mint). For added
Read on for the fun part: the recipes! sweetness, mix in 1 tbsp of pure maple syrup.
—Jennifer Keeling
(Halifax NS) 3. Sprinkle dried mint on top and serve.

“Cooking is my vehicle for offering love to those close to

Spicy Guacamole!
me. This is something small, yet it is something big. Food
prepared with good intent and love is truly nourishing and
Ingredients:
better tasting; it can give joy to those who consume it, and
• 2 ripe avocados
help create an atmosphere of harmony.
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
I enjoy and value every single step throughout the act of
• 1 tsp turmeric
cooking. I work with the food as much as possible. The
• ½ tsp chili powder
more I handle it, the more opportunity I have to put my
• ½ lime, juiced
own energy into it.
Directions:
Cooking with love begins from the ground up with the
1. Mash the avocados in a bowl.
people who grow or raise our food. The final piece of the
puzzle is the act of eating with gratitude. Eating is a sacred
2. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
act of communion. With the earth, with ourselves, our
families and our friends, and with the energy injected into
3. Serve with your choice of crackers, chips, pita, whatever!
the food, from its inception to our plates.”
—Tibrata Gillies
Head Chef, Pan Chancho Bakery, Kingston ON

20 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 21

 Good sprouting technique doesn’t take a “green thumb”, just paying attention to four factors: the right amount of moisture, the correct temperature, the free circulation of
air, and minimal light. By rinsing them a couple of times daily, you keep them moist. You also wash away carbon dioxide and other metabolic wastes that could cause souring or
spoiling. Using cool water when rinsing ventilates and cools the sprouts to prevent overheating. Proper draining prevents excessive moisture that can cause mold and rot. The
ideal sprouting temperature depends on the seed, but generally lies between 70 and 85 degrees. To protect the tiny growing things, keep sprouting containers away from cold
drafts, direct heat, or any light. For free air circulation, at least one-third of the container must be empty. Sprouts expand 6 to 10 times over a few days, so give them plenty of
room to grow. Sprouts are very light sensitive and need to be covered during the early stages of the growing cycle.
For more information visit us on the world wide web at www.handypantry.com

THE SIX RULES OF SPROUTING

1. Rinse Often. 2. Keep them moist, not wet. 3. Keep them at room temperature.
4. Give them plenty of room to breathe. 5. Don’t put too many in any one container. 6. Keep them covered - no light.

Step One: Soaking Step Four: Harvesting

For a quart-sized jar, start with 1 1/2
tablespoons seeds inside the jar, screw on the
fine mesh lid & partially fill the jar with warm
water, not hot. Swirl it around to clean the
seeds, then pour out. Refill with warm water to
cover at about 3 times their depth. & let soak
overnight, away from light.
Pour the sprouts into a pan or sink of clean
water. Skim off any remaining hulls that float
to the surface. Other hulls will fall to the
bottom of the container. Pull out the sprouts,
gently shake off excess moisture & drain in a
colander.

Step Two: Draining & Starting Step Five: Greening

Pour off the soak water. Find a location that is
not exposed to direct sunlight. Place drained
jar propped at an angle to allow any extra water
to drain out. Turn the jar to spread out the seed.
Cover the jar with a dishtowel and leave for 3
to 4 hours.
Clean the jar and lid. Place sprouts for
greening back into the jar. Place in indirect
sunlight. Near a kitchen window is fine. After
the sprouts have greened with chlorophyll and
carotene's for a day or so, rinse, drain & eat or
refrigerated.

Step Three: Rinsing Step Six: Refrigerating

Rinse sprouts with cool, fresh water 2 or 3
times each day until they are ready to eat or
refrigerate. When the begin to throw off the
seed hulls, let the jar overflow with water and
the hulls will float out the top through the
screen. Turn the jar to spread out the seed each
time you rinse.
Sprouts will stay fresh & hearty for a week or
more when refrigerated, if you rinse them every
day or two. You can even give the green
sprouts an extra hour of sunlight after rinsing to
keep them at their nutritional peak. Caution:
Since sprouts are frost sensitive, don’t place
sprouts near the freezer compartment.

22 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 23

 Disturbing Facts About tackling the problem by educating fishermen and developing
Dolphin-Safe Tuna techniques and equipment for releasing the dolphins. By
1994, the kill had dropped to fewer than 4000 dolphins per
year. Around the same time, under pressure from a variety

E
veryone’s heard of
dolphin-safe tuna.
Most of us look for
it when we reach for a
can at the grocery store.
But what does it really
mean?
The “chunk light tuna”
we commonly find on
grocery store shelves
is generally skipjack, I’m just not sure we can be friends anymore...
bigeye, yellowfin, or any combination thereof. Most are
caught with purse seines in the Eastern Tropical Pacific
Ocean (ETP). Basically, after a large group of tuna is found,
a wide purse seine net is closed around them — and around
whatever else is in the water with them. It’s a standard
technique, and a relatively cheap way to catch a lot of fish.
What’s controversial is how the tuna are found. There are
three ways to do this:
1. Get lucky and stumble across a group of free-swimming
tuna visible from the surface.
2. In the ETP, follow dolphins. Dolphins have long been known
to swim above schools of tuna in this part of the ocean.
3. Attract tuna using floating objects known as Fish
Aggregating Devices (FADs).
Since method #1 requires a lot of luck, for a long time method
# 2 was the most common way of finding tuna. Unfortunately,
dolphins would also be trapped in the nets, and up to 500 000
dolphins were killed per year throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s.
As public concern about the dolphin bycatch grew, the
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) began
of environmental groups, the US government banned the
import and sale of dolphin-associated tuna. As the largest
market for canned tuna, the US’s regulations for “dolphin-
safe tuna” had an immediate effect on tuna fleets world-wide.
Tuna fishermen soon switched over to method #3 of
attracting tuna and began using floating objects, or FADs.
This method now accounts for 70% of the global tuna catch.
No one knows why fish flock to floating objects, but they do.
If you put a log in the middle of the ocean, within hours it
will be surrounded by fish. The FADs used by tuna fleets are
equiped with sonar and video that allow boats to detect how
many fish are near the objects. Once there are enough, the
nets come and scoop them all up.
The problem with this method is that FADs don’t just attract
tuna — they attract everything, including turtles, sharks,
birds, billfish, dolphins and lots of other fish that aren’t tuna.
Researchers have compared bycatch rates for dolphin-
associated and FAD-associated sets of yellowfin tuna. Broken
down, each dolphin saved by using the FAD method costs 382
mahi-mahi, 188 wahoo, 82
yellowtail and other large The problem with FADs is
fish, 27 sharks and rays, 1 they don’t just attract tuna
billfish, almost 1200 other — they attract everything.
small fish, and over
25 000 undersize tuna.
(This is because while adult tuna associate with dolphins,
FADs generally attract immature tuna. As a result, up to
20% of the actual tuna catch is discarded because it is below
minimum market size).
Even Greenpeace, one of the main environmental groups
behind the push for dolphin-safe tuna in the ‘90s, noted in
2008 that dolphin-safe labels may be convincing consumers

24 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 25

that what’s in the can is eco-friendly in general. Yet these
labels only cover the bycatch of dolphins, not that of other
species, the sustainability of the fishing method, nor the
Sauces &
status of the fish stocks. In fact, without any international
standards, many dolphin-safe labels don’t even mean that no Trempettes
dolphins were killed during the hunt; they simply mean that
the the tuna weren’t found by following dolphins. Moosewood Mayo
Some conservation groups, including Greenpeace, are now so Ingredients:
concerned about both the amount of bycatch (much of which • 1 large egg
is juvenile tuna) in the tuna fishery and the global overfishing • 3 tbsp. cider vinegar
of tuna that they are calling for an end to all use of FADs in • 1/2 tsp. salt
the tuna fishery, and a return to traditional pole-and-line • 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
methods (which have virtually no bycatch). • 1 c. vegetable oil

So, should we just stop eating tuna? Yet another addition Directions:
to the list of “bad” foods? It’s a tough call. If alternatives 1. Place the first four ingredients in a blender, along with
exist, what does boycotting a product achieve? By rejecting 2 tbsp. of the oil, and blend for a few seconds. Don’t add all
a product, you lose your leveraging power. By not buying the oil yet!
anything, are you really
voting with your dollar? 2. Keep the blender running as you drizzle the remaining oil
By not buying anything,
If, on the other hand, you slowly, in a thin stream. This is key; if you add the oil too
are you really voting with
accept a product with quickly the mayonnaise will break.
your dollar?
conditions — by, say, only
choosing pole-and-line If you accidentally break your
caught tuna, choosing to eat only from well-managed stocks, mayo by adding the oil too
and spreading the word to grocery stores, restaurants and quickly, no worries, just start
governments — you are supporting positive change in the again. Pour the mixture back
marketplace. into your measuring cup, leaving
just a couple tablespoons in the
A good place to start looking for sustainable seafood bottom of the blender. Break
information is SeaChoice (www.seachoice.org), a Canadian another egg into the blender,
sustainable seafood program. SeaChoice’s downloadable blend for a few seconds, then
Seafood Guide and Sushi Guide wallet cards and iPhone apps start over by drizzling the
can help us make decisions about which fish to avoid and remaining oil mixutre in even
which are the best choices when buying seafood. more slowly than before. This
time it should work!
There’s also the Marine Stewardship Council, or MSC
(www.msc.org), which certifies sustainable fisheries 3. Once all the oil is incorporated, turn off the blender and
globally. Though hard to find, the MSC logo on a menu or scrape the mayo into a container. Cover and refrigerate.
packaging is a good bet the fish was sustainably caught.

26 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 27

 Hummus Do You Love Me?
Ingredients:
• 2 c. cooked chick peas • 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. olive oil • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp. tahini (sesame • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
seed butter) • 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• juice of most of a lemon • cayenne pepper (to taste)
Directions:
1. Throw everything in the blender and add about 1/2 cup
water to the mixture. Pulse together until everything is
smooth. You may need to add more water or oil to get the
hummus to blend smoothly.
2. All measurements are approximate, so adjust salt, lemon
and spices to your taste.
Whenever cooking with chick peas or other dried beans,
make sure you soak them the night before! And remember,
dried chick peas must be simmered for a couple of hours
before being ready to use in most recipes. Fortunately, you
can cook lots of chick peas ahead of time and keep them
in the freezer for when you’ll need them. They make great
protein additions to soups and salads, too!
“Mise en place is a French culinary term that means
“everything in its place.” It is the primary organizational
principle in cooking. Before anyone can bake a loaf
of bread, for instance, it is necessary to gather the
ingredients, properly weigh them, and only then prepare
to start. We teach that the ultimate success of one’s
dish is determined during the mise en place phase. Mise
en place is both the simplest of concepts and the most
difficult to teach. Some students never get it: everything
in its place before you cook; and make sure you have
gathered the right ingredients. To do this you have to
know what you want to make.”
—Peter Reinhart, Bread Upon the Waters
28 So, You Think You Can Cook?
Get Him to the Greek Tzatziki!
Ingredients:
• 3 c. yogurt
• 1 medium cucumber
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed or very finely minced
• salt
• handful of fresh mint leaves
Directions:
1. Line a colander with a clean tea towel and place a pie
plate under it. Pour the yogurt into the colander and let
sit for a couple of hours, until one to one-and-a-half cups
of water have drained out and the yogurt is thick, almost
like cream cheese. (Save the yogurt water and use in
place of buttermilk in your next batch of bran muffins.)
2. Peel the cucumber and cut lengthwise. Scoop out the
seeds and discard. Grate the cucumber flesh into a bowl
and toss with a liberal amount of salt. Let sit for at least
15 minutes. The salt will draw off some of the water in
the cucumber.
3. Place the thickened yogurt in a bowl. Stir in the olive oil,
lemon juice and garlic. Chop the mint leaves and stir into
the yogurt.
4. When the cucumber has sat for 15 minutes or more, take
a handful of it and make a fist to squeeze out the water,
then add to the yogurt mixture. Continue until all the
cucumber has been added to the yogurt. Stir well and
taste to check seasonings. Add more salt or lemon juice if
desired (the cucumber is salty so you may not need to add
any more salt).
5. Let sit a few hours before serving to let the mint and
garlic flavours infuse.
Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 29
 Vinaigrette pour salade de chou
Ingrédients:
• 3/4 t. huile de canola
Main Courses
• 1/4 t. vinaigre de cidre
• 1 ou 2 c/thé sucre ou miel
• 1/2 c./thé cannelle Basic Vegetable Stock

W
• sel et poivre
• autres épices à votre goût hen making soups and sauces, most recipes call for
vegetable, chicken or beef stock. It’s easy to make
Mélanger tout et incorporer avec la salade. Bon appetit! your own. For a meat stock, simply add chicken, beef
or pork bones to this basic recipe and cook a little longer.
Tomato Jam
Ingredients:
Ingredients: • 2 onions, chopped • any other vegetable you
• 3/4 kg. ripe tomatoes, • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon • 2-3 stalks celery, like* (sweet potato,
coarsely chopped • 1/8 tsp. ground cloves including leaves tomato, parsnip,
• 1 c. sugar • 1 tsp. salt • 2-3 carrots, peeled cauliflower, peas,
• 2 tbsp. lime juice • 1 jalapeno or other pepper, and chopped corn, etc.)
(= approx. 1 juicy lime) minced, or red pepper • 1 tbsp. vegetable oil • 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. grated ginger flakes or cayenne to taste or butter • 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. ground cumin • 4-6 cups water • 1 bay leaf

Directions: Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a 1. In a large pot, heat the oil or butter. Saute the onions,
boil over medium heat, stirring often. celery, carrots and other vegetables until onions are soft.

2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until
mixutre has consistency of thick jam, about an hour and
15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
3. Cool and refrigerate. Will keep in the fridge for two weeks.
“Hunger is the best sauce in the world.”
— Cervantes
2. Add the water, salt and pepper.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer an hour or
so. Adjust seasonings to taste.
4. Drain off liquid and discard vegetables. This is your
vegetable stock. If making a vegetable soup, you don’t
need to drain the stock at all, just add the rest of your
vegetables to your pot.

“I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook *Keep in mind the recipe you will use your stock for when
can play each time with a variation.” choosing vegetables. Strong-flavoured vegetables like broccoli
— Madam Benoit and cabbage are okay in a vegetable soup, but may not be
ideal if you’ll be using your stock in a delicate sauce.

30 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 31

 Easy-on-ya Lasagne Spanakopitas

T
his slow-cooker lasagne is just as tasty as the baked Ingredients:
version, but is a lot less work. Remember to keep • 1 tbsp. butter • 2 c. crumbled feta
a lid on it! When using a slow-cooker, stirring is • 2 c. minced onions cheese
not necessary, and lifting the lid increases cooking times • 1/2 tsp. salt • 1 c. cottage cheese
substantially. • 1 tsp. basil • 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. oregano • 1 c. toasted, crushed
Ingredients: • 3 tsp. sugar • 2 1/2 lbs. fresh spinach, pine nuts
• 8 dried lasagne noodles, • 1 tsp. dried parsley stemmed and chopped • black pepper, to taste
broken into bite-sized pieces • 1/2 tsp. dried basil • 5 cloves garlic, minced • 1 lb phyllo pastry,
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef • 1/2 tsp. dried oregano • 3 tbsp. flour thoroughly defrosted
(or 1 c. dried TVP) • 3/4 tsp. black pepper • 1/2 c. olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped • 1 tsp. salt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced • 500 ml. cottage cheese Directions:
• 2 large cans diced tomatoes • 2 c. grated mozzarella 1. Heat the butter in a large frying pan. Add onions, salt,
• 1 small can tomato paste • 1/2 c. grated parmesan pepper and herbs. Sauté for 5 minutes, until onion is soft.
• 3 c. roughly chopped spinach
2. Add spinach, turn up the heat, and stir occasionally until
Directions: spinach wilts (about 5-8 minutes). Stir in the garlic.
1. Cook noodles in boiling water for 5-7 minutes, until Sprinkle in the flour. Stir and cook over medium heat
softened but slightly undercooked. Drain and rinse. 2-3 more minutes. Remove from heat.

2. In a large frying pan, cook ground beef, onion and garlic
until beef is no longer pink. If using TVP instead of beef,
sauté onion and garlic with a little vegetable oil, then stir
in TVP and 1 cup of water. Transfer beef/TVP mixture to
slow-cooker.
3. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, spinach, sugar, herbs,
salt and pepper to slow-cooker. Stir in cottage cheese,
mozzarella and noodles until well combined.
3. Stir the eggs into the cottage cheese, then add to the
spinach mixture. Stir in the feta and pine nuts. Taste to
correct seasonings, adding lots of black pepper.
4. Take phyllo out of packaging and cover with a damp towel
to keep from drying out.
5. Lay one sheet of phyllo on the table. Use a pastry brush or
paint brush to coat it completely with olive oil. Be gentle!

4. Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours or on High for 3-4
hours, until hot and bubbling.
5. Before serving, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover and
cook on High for 10 minutes, until cheese has melted. To
serve, lift the stoneware pot out of the slow-cooker and
transfer directly to the table. Enjoy with friends!
6. Cut the long side of the sheet into three strips. Place
a tablespoon of filling at the bottom of each strip. Fold
the bottom corner over the filling into a triangle, like a
turnover, and continue folding a triangle shape all the
way to the top off the strip. Place spanakopitas on a
greased cookie sheet.
7. Bake in a 375° oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

32 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 33

 7 Words and 7 Rules for
Healthy Eating
Désserts
E
verything food writer Michael Pollan says he’s learned
about food and health can be summed up in seven
words: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Easy Eggless Ice Cream
Probably the first two words are most important. “Eat food” Ingredients:
means to eat real food and to avoid what Pollan calls “edible • 2 c. milk • 1 c. white sugar
food-like substances.” Here’s how: • 2 c. whippng cream • 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla
1. Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t
recognize as food. “When you pick up that box of portable Directions:
yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you 1. Stir all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved.
can’t pronounce, ask yourself, ‘What are those things
doing there?” Pollan says. 2. Place in ice cream maker for approximately 30 minutes.
2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or any 3. After half an hour, transfer ice cream into an airtight
ingredients you can’t pronounce. container and store in freezer for 1-2 hours until firm.
3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket: shop on the
perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer
edge of the store nearer to the loading docks. Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt

4. Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot. “There are Ingredients:
exceptions — honey — but as a rule, things like Twinkies • 4 c. plain yogurt
that never go bad aren’t food.” • 1 c. white sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
5. It’s not just what you eat but how you eat. “Always leave • 2 tsp. vanilla
the table a little hungry,” Pollan says. “Many cultures
have rules that you stop eating before you are full. In Directions:
Japan, they say eat until you are four-fifths full. In 1. Stir all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved.
Germany they say, “Tie off the sack before it’s full.”
2. Place in ice cream maker for approximately 30 minutes.
6. Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not
a TV, at regular meal times. It’s a good tradition. Enjoy 3. After half an hour, transfer yogurt into an airtight
meals with the people you love. “Remember when eating container and store in freezer for 1-2 hours until firm.
between meals felt wrong?” Pollan asks.
Add jam, stewed fruits or chocolate sauce to the contents of
7. Don’t buy food where you buy your gasoline. In the US, the ice cream maker just a few seconds before removing from
20% of food is eaten in the car. machine for a flavour swirl!

34 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 35

 Best Chocolate Cake Ever! Nat’s World-Famous

F
Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Wookies
rom the Otesha Book, this is the tastiest and easiest
chocolate cake ever. And it’s vegan! Of course, it can Ingredients:
be easily be converted back to a non-vegan version and • 1 c. butter • 1 tsp. baking soda
the results are just as delicious. • 1 c. white sugar • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 c. brown sugar • 2 c. rolled oats
Ingredients: • 2 eggs • 2 c. flour
• 2 c. sugar • equivalent of 2 eggs • 1 tsp. vanilla • 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips
• 3/4 c. cocoa powder • 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 c. flour • 1 c. soy milk (or milk) Directions:
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder • 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1. Beat together butter and sugars
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda • 1 c. boiling water with a hand mixer.
• 1 tsp. salt
2. Add eggs and vanilla and beat
Directions: some more.
1. Heat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 9-inch
round baking pans or one 9x13 rectangular pan. 3. Mix dry ingredients in a second
bowl, then add to egg mixture.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Drop cookies onto a greased cookie
3. Combine all wet ingredients except boiling water, and add sheet and bake at 350° F for 10
to dry. Whisk until well combined. minutes. Makes three dozen.

4. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

5. Pour into pans and bake for 30-35 minutes (round pans)
or 35-40 minutes (rectangular pan).
For an easy cake-topper, sprinkle chocolate chips over your
cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. After a minute or
two, use a knife to spread the melted chips over the top of the
cake, and hey presto: icing!
“If you think you’re too small to be effective, you have
never been in bed with a mosquito.”
— Betty Reese
Egg Substitutions
You may want to sub eggs out of a recipe for several
reasons (dietary needs, allergies, or you’re just out). There
are no substitutes for real eggs in an omelette, but there
are several ways to replace eggs when baking:
1 egg = • 1/2 ripe banana, mashed
• 1/4 cup of apple sauce
• 1/4 cup of soft tofu, blended with the liquid
ingredients from the recipe
• 2 tablespoons water + 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons
of water

36 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 37

 Banana Bread 5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

W
hen you have over-ripe bananas that nobody wants Ingredients:
to eat, put them in the freezer until you’ve collected • 4 tbsp. flour • 3 tbsp. oil
enough for banana bread. When you’re ready to use • 4 tbsp. sugar • 3 tbsp. milk
them, leave them in a bowl on the counter until they soften, • 2 tbsp. cocoa • 1 egg
snip off one of the ends and squeeze the bananas out of their • 1 tsp. baking powder • 2-3 tbsp. chocolate chips
peels. • 1/2 tsp. coffee powder (optional)
(optional)
Ingredients:
• 2 large bananas, mashed Directions:
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil 1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mug. Mix wet
• 2 eggs ingredients separately, then add to dry and combine well.
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 1 3/4 c. flour 2. Pour half the mixture into a second mug. Make sure mugs
• 2 tsp. baking powder are only half full (not half empty).
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. chopped nuts or dates 3. Microwave one mug at a time for one minute on Medium
• 1-2 tbsp. brown sugar heat, then let cool a few seconds. Microwave for another
(optional) 30 seconds on Medium. Mixture will look a little molten,
but will continue cooking on residual heat.
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 350° F and 4. Allow to cool a little before digging in!
grease a bread pan.

2. Combine all dry ingredients

in a large bowl.
3. Combine all wet ingredients, then add to dry. Add nuts or
dates. Stir until just combined. Batter will be thick.
4. Pour into bread pan. If desired, sprinkle brown sugar over
the top of the loaf. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the
middle of the loaf comes out clean, approximately 1 hour.
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”
— Henry Ford
Shopping Tips for Small Budgets
• Check your inventory to see what you already have,
and build some meals around these ingredients.
• Make a meal plan, then make a shopping list based on
your meal plan and stick to it!
• Don’t shop on an empty stomach.
• Shop the outer perimeter of the grocery store. This is
where all the raw foods are. The aisles contain mainly
processed (and more expensive) foods.
• Don’t buy pre-made foods (salad dressing, ready-to-
eat meals, cookies). Processed foods are much more
expensive than making your own from scratch.
• Buy in bulk when possible.

38 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 39

 Olive Oil
Cleaning A great alternative furniture polish. Don’t worry about using
extra-virgin; the cheapest will do.
Products Lemons
The citric acid in lemon juice makes it perfect for bleaching,
disinfecting, deodorising and cutting grease.
Chemical-Free House-Cleaning

D
espite what chemical manufacturers might have us What to Clean and How to Clean it
believe, white vinegar, baking soda, lemons and olive
oil are all we really need to keep our wood floors sleek, General Surfaces
stainless steel shiny, and bathrooms germ-free. Besides being Damp dusting is great for general cleaning and picks up
chemical-free, the added bonus is that these products cost scattered dust around the house. For best results, soak your
only a fraction of the price of commercial cleaners. dusting rag in equal parts water and vinegar. Add a few drops
of eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil to leave the house smelling
extra clean.
Natural Products
Floors
White Vinegar
Mop vinyl, linoleum or ceramic tiled floors with a cup of
A natural disinfectant and stain remover, vinegar also
vinegar diluted in three litres of hot water.
reduces mineral and lime deposits. It’s a dilute acid and
a good substitute for ammonia-based cleaners. Use white
Carpets
vinegar instead of other vinegars like cider or wine vinegar:
For pet odours and stains in carpets, mix equal parts vinegar
it’s cheaper, and other vinegars have stronger odours that
and water. Apply to affected areas and blot with a towel until
will linger in the house.
moisture is absorbed. Repeat as necessary.
Sodium Bicarbonate (a.k.a Baking Soda)
Wood
Baking soda is a miracle cleaner. When mixed with water
Mix one part olive oil with one part lemon juice. Rub onto
it forms a slightly alkaline liquid that cuts through grease
furniture and wood floors, or apply with a spray bottle, then
and dirt on almost any surface. Used straight-up it’s slightly
polish with a dry cloth.
abrasive and can scrub away stains. Vinegar and baking soda
can be mixed together for maximum cleaning strength. In a
Glass
pinch, baking powder works just as well — it’s mostly baking
For streak-free windows, clean with white vinegar and polish
soda anyway.
with dry, crumpled newspapers for sparkling results.
Eucalyptus and Tea Tree Oils
Stainless Steel
These oils are natural disinfectants. You can always add a
Clean and shine any stainless steel surface with a paste of
few drops to any water being used for washing dishes, floors,
baking soda and water. Apply with a damp cloth, leave for
bathrooms or any other part of the house. Wiping counter
about five minutes, then wipe clean.
tops and cutting boards with a few drops on a damp cloth is a
great way to disinfect after cooking.

40 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 41

Microwave Ovens Green and Clean!

Clean with equal parts vinegar and water. To remove odours,
microwave lemon slices in a bowl of water and microwave on
High for a few minutes, then wipe the oven clean.
Ovens
Make a paste of baking soda and water and wipe onto oven
walls and floor. Re-moisten with a spray bottle as the baking
soda dries. Go ahead and bake a cake — the heat will improve
the baking soda’s cleaning power. When the oven’s cold, wipe
clean. Use vinegar to remove the last traces of baking soda.
Baths, Shower Doors, Sinks, Tiles and Grout
Tackle soap scum with a paste of two parts baking soda to
one part vinegar. Apply with a damp cloth. Leave for 10
minutes before scrubbing.
Mildew and Mold
Banish black spots with equal parts vinegar and baking soda.
Apply and leave for one or two hours, then wipe clean. For
serious mildew and mold problems, repeat as necessary.
Toilet
To keep toilets clean and fresh, sprinkle a cup or so of baking
soda into the bowl. Leave several hours before scrubbing
clean. Use vinegar to clean toilet seat and tank.
Drain Cleaner
Pour a quarter cup of baking soda into the drain, followed by
a cup of vinegar. Leave half an hour or longer if possible, then
chase with a kettle-full of boiling water.
Air Freshener
Baking soda eliminates odours. Mix eight tablespoons
with three drops of your favourite essential oil. Place in a
decorative bowl or vase.
Dab some essential oil on an incandescent light bulb. When
switched on, the heat from the bulb will diffuse the fragrance.
Baking soda in the bottom of ashtrays absorbs smoke smells.
F
or people who struggle with eczema, making your
own cleaning products and reducing the amount of
chemicals that touch your skin is one of the most
effective ways to prevent the problem. It’s also better for the
environment and cheaper than commercial products!
— Emily Elliott
(Elliot Lake ON)
Laundry Detergent
Ingredients:
• 1 c. soap flakes • 1/2 c. washing soda
• 6 c. water   • 1/2 c. borax
Directions:
1. Over medium heat, mix soap flakes in a pan with water
until it all dissolves, roughly 3–5 minutes.
2. Stir in the washing soda and borax. Mix until everything
thickens (three minutes or so), and remove from heat.
3. Put 1 litre of hot water in a large bucket, then add the
soap mixture. Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil as a
natural disinfectant. Mix well and store.
Body Wash
Ingredients:
• 2 c. soap flakes • 2 tbsp. glycerin
• 2 litres water • 2 tbsp. coconut oil or aloe
vera for extra moisturizing
Directions:
1. Mix ingredients together in a large pot. Set over low heat,
stirring occasionally until the soap has dissolved.
2. Transfer to a jar and cover tightly. For a thinner gel,
double the water. Add essential oils or extra ingredients
like honey or vanilla for a personally scented body wash.

42 So, You Think You Can Cook? Aventures dans la Katima-cuisine 43

All the water that will ever be is, right now

H
alf way through the UN’s Water for Life decade (2005-
2015) seems like a good time to review some world
water stats, courtesy of the UN. (We’ve mostly seen
them before, we just prefer to live like we haven’t.)
• Only 1% of the total water on in developing countries
earth is available for human 20-30 litres/capita/day is
use. considered enough to meet
• About 70% of all available basic human needs.
freshwater is used for • At any one time, half of
agriculture. the world’s hospital beds
• Water use increased six-fold are occupied by patients
during the 20th century, suffering from water-borne
more than twice the rate of diseases.
population growth. • By 2025, it is estimated
• Water consumption in that about two thirds
industrialized countries of the world’s population
runs as high as 380 litres/ will face moderate to severe
capita/day in the US, while water stress.

Suggested reading: Journalist Marq de Villiers’ report on the

politics of water and the looming global water crisis in Water:
The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource. Probably even
more relevant today than when it was published in 2001.

44 So, You Think You Can Cook?