Maple Syrup Pie

OK folks. Before we get this maple syrup party started, I'm burning to tell you this (which I just found out today)... My blog is shortlisted for a Saveur Magazine best food blog award! More specifically, this video about my mom's Baba au Rhum, which I made this past Christmas. So you know what this means right? I'm going to ask you a favour. I need your votes, since the award is given for the highest number of online votes. So click here to do the deed. (You'll need to register with Saveur and be signed-in in order to vote, but I promise, it only takes about 15 seconds to do). Merci, thank-you, danke schon, grazie, shokran jezillan, you are the best! As a token of thanks for indulging me in this act of shameless self-promotion, I give you...  MAPLE SYRUP PIE.

A few weeks ago, I went to Québec to make maple syrup with my dad. 

I wrote an article about it which you can read in the spring edition of Edible Toronto Magazine. In the article, I share my 3 favourite maple syrup recipes: eggs poached in maple syrup, my stepdad's maple mousse, and my personal pièce de résistance... maple syrup pie! Oh yes. Maple. Syrup. Pie. Otherwise known as tarte à l'érable. It's a Québec tradition involving butter, eggs, cream, and maple syrup. And how can anyone resist THAT? There are many different versions of this pie out there, and over the years, after baking several of these, I do believe I have finally nailed the exact ratios for that irresistible gooey pecan pie-like texture that makes me lose my mind just a little bit. Plus, my recipe uses no sugar, only maple syrup! So it's kind of, sort of healthy. At least I like to tell myself this. 

It's very easy to make. The hardest part is letting it cool and set for a full 3 hours before slicing!

Here is a video I made to accompany my article and to capture my dad's enthusiasm for collecting maple sap and making his own syrup. He gets as wired as a kid on Christmas day. It's pretty freaking adorable. And I couldn't resist slipping in a little timelapse at the end, showing my own enthusiasm for MAPLE. SYRUP. PIE. (!!!)

MAPLE SYRUP PIE
(This recipe differs slightly from the one shown in the video... yes folks, this one is the new and improved version!)

All-butter pie pastry:

1 1/4 cup organic unbleached flour (or white whole wheat pastry flour)
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
About 1/4 cup ice water
1/2 tsp salt (use 1/4 tsp if your butter is already salted)

Pie filling:

1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
6 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup whipping (35%) cream

1 1/2 Tbsp. unbleached white flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

To make the pastry, cut the butter into the flour until it's the size of lentils or small peas. Add the ice water and mix gently with a fork until you can gather a small amount in your hand it comes together. Add water if needed, 1 Tbsp at a time. Do not overmix the dough. Gather the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disc. Wrap it up in waxed paper and place it in the fridge for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough and place it in a 9-inch pie plate, crimping the edges nicely. Place in the refrigerator until the filling is ready.

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring the maple syrup just to a boil. Cook the maple syrup at a gentle bubble, reducing the heat if necessary, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Stir in the cream. Transfer about 1/2-cup of the mixture to a small bowl; whisk in the flour and salt and then whisk this back into the mixture in the saucepan. Allow to cool slightly. Beat the eggs well and whisk them into the mixture in the saucepan. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake in a 325 to 350º oven until the centre is golden brown and bubbly, and firm when lightly touched, about 45 minutes. Now, please don't hate me but you MUST allow this pie to cool completely to room temperature and set for at least 3 hours, for clean slicing. Serve at room temperature.

Minty Grapefruit Coleslaw

We have mint!

It's March going on June here in Toronto (25 degrees today!). And in our back garden I found a wee bit of mint poking its sleepy head out of the ground. I pounced on those little sprigs to make this variation on a salad I have been loving these days. It's inspired by The Big Carrot's grapefruit coleslaw. They put cilantro in their version which is equally delicious. But something about the grapefruit & mint combo is oh so refreshing and perfect for a warm spring day.




Minty Grapefruit Coleslaw
1 small cabbage
2 green onions
A dozen (or more) cherry tomatoes
2 grapefruits
1 small bunch of mint
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Finely chop the cabbage. Slice up the green onions, tomatoes, 1 1/2 grapefruit, and mint. Squeeze the juice from one half of a grapefruit into a bowl. Add olive oil and salt and pepper to make a dressing to your taste (I like a fair bit of salt and pepper in this one). Toss together and voila!

Polenta Fries

I have a complicated relationship with corn.

I love corn, but sometimes, it feels like it has taken over our entire food chain. Michael Pollan explains it eloquently in this article, which he prefaces by saying: "If you are what you eat, and especially if you eat industrial food, as 99 percent of Americans do, what you are is "corn." And one of my favourite blogging farmers, Gene Logsdon, puts it this way: "Corn has become a symbol of over-industrialized farming. Corn is sort of like sex. It is such a wonderful thing that it is easy to carry to excess."

Driving through rural Ontario in the summer, you see hundreds of acres of corn, each year more than the one before. The vibrant fields of green are beautiful to look at. But for the most part, they're far from an example of sustainable agriculture. Many years ago, I found out that most of the corn grown in Canada is genetically engineered (GE or GMO) and I started doing some research about it. I didn't like what I found out. It was like opening up a sci-fi thriller packed with unsavoury details: whistle-blowing scientists fired for sharing their concerns about adverse effects of GMOs, increased pesticide use, farmers being sued and forbidden from replanting seeds, scientists banned from studying GMOs without permission from the companies holding the patents, superweeds on the rise, even cover-ups and bribes. It's grisly stuff. Let me clarify that I'm not against genetic engineering, it's a powerful technology that can do some pretty amazing things, especially in the field of medicine and scientific research. But the way it's currently being used in our crops and in our food brings up a lot of concerns. The vast majority of GMOs currently in our food have been engineered to do one of two things: produce their own insecticide, or resist being sprayed with herbicides. Essentially, they make very big profits for a few companies, and not much more than that. Despite much hype, yield increases have been minimal, in many cases yielding less than conventional crops. 

Since GE foods are not labeled in Canada, and since most farm animals eat genetically engineered corn and soy, it means there are a whole bunch of foods (including meat and dairy) that I try to avoid unless they are certified organic (which prohibits the use of GE crops). For someone who loves food like I do, it can sometimes be a real pain in the ass having to ask if the corn used in my taco is organic. I never wanted to become one of "those people".  I kind of resent GMOs for turning me into that person because it's not that I'm a picky eater, in fact I'll eat anything and everything, but I'm just not down with eating GMOs, especially when they're hidden away in there without even being labelled. This film by award-winning journalist Marie-Monique Robin explains the whole issue better than I could ever put into words, it is really a must-see especially for us North Americans who eat this stuff on a daily basis (to see the film in its entirety, click here):

So, as you can see, when I say I have a complicated relationship with corn, I'm not kidding. But, here's the happy ending / beginning to my story... recently I met someone who made me fall in love with corn again. And in the process, I also fell in love with him. But we'll save those juicy details for another time... What I want to tell you about, is how exquisitely beautiful the corn that he grows is: a deep golden open-pollinated organic variety of field corn called Early Riser. This is what it looks like, isn't it a beauty?!

Recently, this man milled his fall harvest into cornmeal and brought me a whole bag of it. In my books this is the equivalent of a dozen roses. I think I even swooned a little bit. So these days, corn and I are on the mend. And here is what I have been making with this heavenly, GMO-free, lovingly grown and harvested organic cornmeal: POLENTA FRIES!!! These are easy to make and incredibly delicious. Please make them, eat a whole pan, and while you're at it, please sign and share this handy dandy petition for the labelling of GMOs). Also, today is a global day of action against Monsanto. Here is a great status update I saw floating around on Facebook:

Dear Monsanto Staff,
Your services will no longer be needed. Your positions have been "terminated". It has been determined that God/Spirit made everything perfect the first time and no redos are necessary. You will have to find other employment that does not kill & poison the earth & it's citizens. There are many other professions with integrity that might interest you: farming, teaching, janitorial services, etc.
-The Citizens of the World.

Polenta Fries
2 3/4 cups (organic) cornmeal

6 cups water
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 cup butter
Chopped fresh sage (or rosemary)
Salt, to taste
Olive oil for baking sheet

This recipe will make a LOT of polenta fries. If you're only cooking for 2 or 3, you may want to half it, but otherwise, trust me, they will get eaten! Bring cornmeal, salt, and water to a slow simmer in a thick-bottomed pot, stirring often for about 20 minutes. Stir in cheese, herbs, and butter. Spread polenta out in a couple of large lasagna-style pan to approx. 3/4 inch depth. Cool in the fridge for 1 or 2 hours. Slice into  fries. Cover a baking sheet with with about 2 tbsp. olive oil and bake your fries in a 425 F oven for about 45 minutes or until nicely crisp and golden on the outside, turning them over halfway through.