#27: beets - October 2011

The Beet-Off was held at Yaara & Adriana's house near Oak and Broadway on the 19th of October. It was rainy and cold so being in their small, homey living room with wine & music was very cosy, although the awkwardly-shaped kitchen made it good that not many people needed to actually cook their dishes. This was a smaller cookoff, only nine people in attendance.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Geoff: "beet 3-way" beet nachos — a beet chip topped with beet & tomato salsa, beet chutney, and shredded coconut

Adriana: "b33t str33t manif3st0" spinach, roasted marinated beet & portobello mushroom in balsamic dressing with port sauce

Veronica: "oh my darling, you are sinful..." roasted beet, garlic, & cream cheese in a gluten free peppered pastry, topped with balsamic reduction

Jen: "bordello of beet" red velvet spelt & beet cupcakes with a blackberry centre, topped with cream cheese icing and a fresh blackberry

Emilie: "beet bolognese" beet & portobello mushroom pasta sauce over buckwheat pasta with lemon

Yaara: "real men eat pink hummus" beet & garlic hummus with golden and red beet chips

Marina: "come on baby, beet me!" gluten-free cupcake with beet purée and beet juice icing


Also in attendance were Jeff Z and Sarah. Geoff, a friend of Adriana's, and Emilie, a friend of Amanda's, both competed for the first time.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
seconds: Veronica
presentation: Adriana
creativity: Geoff
beetiness: Emilie
overall favourite: Veronica

overall winner: Veronica

best name: (unscored category) Yaara

#26: foods you used to hate - September 2011

Former least favourite foods cookoff was held at Blühaus (Jen & Jeff's) on the 15th of September. It was beginning to feel like fall, with earlier sunsets and rainy days, so everyone was pleased to be inside with lots of food and wine.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Amanda: "I dunno, gimme a sec... fuck!" salt & pepper sautéed asparagus with lemon, in a parsley-blackberry dipping sauce

Dave & Anya: "wet fungus" steamed kale & spinach salad with garlic, portobello mushrooms, apples, basil, pumpkin seeds and almonds

Jen: "I cuss, you cuss" asparagus & oyster mushroom with applewood smoked salt & roasted garlic cream cheese in a filo pastry tart

Adriana "I ♥ ur sw33t yamz" sweet potato & yam baked with soy cheese, caramelized apples, cardamom, and green olives

Yaara: "broccoli squish with pink stuff on top" broccoli-tahini cheesy casserole with strawberry gravy

Jeff D: "hummingbird's breast & chrochrownds" grits with sweet & savoury collard greens featuring shiitake & portobello mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, raisins, and onions

Veronica: "what the fuck is a chickpea?" hummus quesadilla with maple garlic black beans, roasted green pepper, and chipotle sour cream

Marina: "better than sex tarts" chocolate peanut butter filling in a gluten-free pretzel crust


Also in attendance were Jeff Z, Jesse, Krystyna, Sarah, Onur, Dan, Laryssa, and Nina.

CATEGORIES & WINNERS
creativity: Yaara
seconds: Jen
presentation: Amanda
overall favourite: Adriana

overall winner: Adriana

best name: (unscored category) Dave & Anya

#25: seasonal local fruit - August 2011

Seasonal fruit cookoff was held on the 29th of August at Mischief Manor (Mal & Kaylie's) shortly before they vacate the place. This cookoff was also gluten-free. Malloreigh wanted to host before they moved out, but did concede that their place is really too small (I think we were all expecting a smaller cookoff than it turned out to be). Nevertheless, we all ate loads of delicious food and polished off several bottles of wine. And although we missed Amanda at this cookoff, it was sort of a good thing she didn't come because there were nuts abound!

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Malloreigh: "wild sage advice" savoury strawberry-balsamic red onion tart with baked tofu and topped with cherry sage jam

Jen: "picokanagan de gallo" nectarine, blueberry & tomato salsa with cilantro & lime basil, served with chili-cornmeal crusted fried tofu and garnished with pea shoots

Bronwen: "sex on the peach tacos" roasted peaches, pico de gallo, cashew cream & lime in a corn tortilla

Kaylie: "I love Canadian melons" potato croquette atop fig jam served with watermelon and cucumber-fennel salad, topped with basil oil

Arinn: "she taste so good" cherry-almond mini pies

Veronica: "bloody drunken pears" cinnamon poached pears in sour cherry & blueberry sauce, topped with cashew cream

Marina: "berry sinful crispy devils" chocolate rice krispie squares with fresh blackberries & strawberries

Jeff Z: "nebulous strawberry soup" strawberry, red wine, and wine vinegar soup with sour cream and mint


Also in attendance were Yaara, Adriana, George, Shawna, Jeff D, and Janna.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
seconds: Malloreigh
presentation: Jen
creativity: Malloreigh
best use of ingredient: Malloreigh/Jeff
overall: Bronwen

overall winner: Malloreigh/Bronwen

best name: (unscored category) Bronwen

recipe: sweet balsamic & sage grilled peaches

As usual, I tossed this together without really checking the proportions so all measurements are approximate.

In addition to the recipe ingredients below, you will also need:
-ripe but not overly soft white peaches (the quantities below will make enough for about 6 peaches)
-3 or 4 chopped sage leaves, plus whole leaves for garnish
-1 tbsp lemon zest

balsamic glaze:
-1 cup balsamic vinegar
-3 or 4 tbsp agave nectar
-1 tbsp vanilla
-1/4 cup water

Whisk everything together, tasting to check if it's too sweet or thin (add more agave if you want it thicker, add more water & balsamic if it's too sweet). Re-whisk it before using.

crème fraîche:
-1/2 cup tofu sour cream
-2 tbsp soy creamer
-1-2 tbsp soy cream cheese
-1 tbsp agave nectar
-1 tsp lemon juice
-1/2 tsp arrowroot powder

Whisk the creamer, lemon juice, and arrowroot powder together, then add everything else. If it's too runny, add a bit more cream cheese. If it's too thick, add a bit more creamer. Refrigerate the mixture at least half an hour, and re-whisk it before using.

Slice all the peaches in half lengthwise and remove the stone. Generously brush the glaze over all sides and place them face-down on a hot grill. Grill them about 10 minutes, until they are warm throughout and relatively soft. After taking them off the grill, brush them again with glaze and put about a tablespoon of the crème fraîche in each hole from the stone. Sprinkle with lemon zest and chopped sage and add the garnish leaf.
These can be served as a dessert, but I think they would also be good as a side for a spicy or smoky protein dish.

#24: barbecue - July 2011

BBQ cookoff was held on the 12th of June at Nina's beautiful house in Mt. Pleasant. We had two grills set up so that it wouldn't take all night to cook everything, and sat at the big wooden table on the deck. It was clear and warm until after 10, when it started raining lightly, but we had all finished serving by then. There were a number of attendants who were not competing, so the booze was plentiful: two giant bottles of red wine plus a case of beer and a giant bottle of champagne! Nina and Mart made several bowls of delicious sangria and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. If only all cookoffs could be held outside.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Amanda: "psychedelic cattails" bannock wrapped around spiced mango, served with roasted red pepper sauce

Malloreigh: "char siu me" sticky rice and char siu seitan cooked in banana leaves, served with chive buds

Laryssa: "summer fruit skewers" seitan, onion, garlic & nectarine in bbq sauce, rolled in cornflake crumbs

Tim: "jerking seitan's cookoff" seitan jerky smoked with hickory and red wine

Jen: "honeyed sage advice" agave-balsamic glazed white peaches with crème fraîche, lemon, and sage

Jeff D: "Boston butt podunk" pulled pork-style sandwiches made with jackfruit, sauerkraut, root beer, onion, and pepper

Yaara: "skewed reality" beer & chipotle-marinated skewers of tofu, tempeh, and shiitake mushrooms in a maple bbq sauce

Nina: "the Eurasian singe" peri-peri tofu and sesame mango salsa on a ginger-garlic crostini, topped with tahini sauce


Also in attendance were Mart, Jeff Z, Sarah, Tim's friend Eliot, Adriana, Luc, Dan, and a couple of other friends who weren't there the whole time and thus did not participate in the voting.

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
seconds: Jeff
presentation: Malloreigh/Jen
creativity: Jeff
best use of theme: Laryssa/Yaara
overall favourite: Jen/Jeff

overall winner: Jeff

best name: (unscored category) Tim


Amanda's entry on the grill.

Jen's entry on the grill.

Sangria. What a beautiful evening.

recipe: spicy tahini sauce

Everyone really liked the sauce I used on my falafel at the bean cookoff, so I thought I'd try and put the recipe down. It was sort of slapdash so the quantities are more of a guess than anything, just adjust things to your own tastes.

JEN'S SPICY TAHINI SAUCE
-3 tbsp tahini
-2 tbsp milder, thick hot sauce
-a few drops of a stronger, thin hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
-1 tbsp aioli garlic mustard ***see notes below
-pinch each of cumin, cayenne, and chili powder
-1/4 tsp sea salt
-juice from half a lemon
-a bit of olive oil
-3-4 tbsp of water

for the aioli mustard:
I had a jar of this in the fridge I wanted to use but it wasn't vegan, so I adapted my own. Mix together the following (this will obviously make a little more than you need for the sauce, but extra isn't a bad thing):
-2 tbsp yellow or dijon mustard
-1 tbsp Veganaise
-1 clove of garlic, pressed
-a pinch each of turmeric and garlic salt

Mix together everything but the water, and taste it to make sure it's spiced to your tastes (if it's too spicy, add a bit more tahini and olive oil). Then add water until it reaches the consistency you want. This is good as a sandwich spread, dip, or topping for stir-fry, etc. Enjoy!

#23: the bean - June 2011

The bean cookoff was held on the 14th of June, again at Flatland — now residence of Amanda and Laryssa as well as Jeff Downer. An impressive 11 people brought entries, and many others came along for the ride. It was a happy, loud, and drunken affair, but that was to be expected with so much communal wine and the fact that a good number of us had not seen each other in at least a month. I think also with the sun setting so late it was pretty easy to lose track of time, because it was nearly 12:30 when Jeff Z and I finally headed home, and we weren't even the last to leave.

COMPETITORS AND ENTRIES
Bronwen: "David Bowie's ch-ch-ch-ch-chana" masala chickpeas with basmati rice and raita, garnished with lemon

Yaara: "black bean mango procession" Thai-style green curry with black beans, yam, basil, and mango, served atop quinoa

Jen: "the falafel truth" deep-fried chickpea patties with herbs and onions, topped with spicy tahini sauce and shaved cucumber

Kaylie: "fiery bag o' dix" chipotle black bean bruschetta with olives, red onion, and candied pecans

Laryssa: "The Big Bean Theory" fava beans and portobello mushrooms baked with sauce in phyllo pastry, served with creamy cannellini bean sauce and salsa

Jeff D: "our bees make honey, but your flies make shit" Peruvian lima bean casserole with kale, breadcrumbs, and pepperjack Daiya, served with a creamy Cointreau and orange rind sauce

Nina: "black mamba quesadilla" fried tortillas with black beans, avocado, carrot, sprouts, tomato, and cilantro

Cera: "the pink lady" white bean and cornbread patty topped with kale and a red bean almond sauce

Luc: "keepin' it cas-o-real" green bean casserole with homefried onions, portobello mushrooms, and cheddar Daiya

Malloreigh: "the flatulent blonde" chickpea-tahini blondie with black bean chocolate sauce and candied black beans

Jeff Z: "Beantown Ice Capades" vanilla bean ice cream with chocolate covered espresso beans, served with almond biscotti and shaved bitter chocolate


It should be noted that this was Cera and Bronwen's first times competing, and additionally, Bronwyn's partner Michael's impeccable wit had a hand in naming many of the dishes. Also in attendance were Amanda, Tim, Ryan Barfield, and Nina's partner Mart (sp?).

CATEGORIES AND WINNERS
seconds: Bronwen/Malloreigh
presentation: Jen
beaniness: Laryssa
creativity: Kaylie/Jeff D/Cera/Malloreigh
overall favourite: Malloreigh

overall winner: Malloreigh

best name: (unscored category) Luc