Kick The KD: Update #2

Dan    Ask Dan     calgary, cooking, education, Kick The KD

The first Kick The KD class happens in just over a month from now, February 10th, so I thought now might be a great time to further fill you in on what will take place during this 10 week course!

Each week’s lesson will feature two recipes, hands-on cooking, as well as group discussions about all things food! Tasty! Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dishes are some examples of the types of recipes we’ll be tackling throughout the course.

The 15 participants will also each be paired up with a Canadian food blog. I’m hoping that by having each student following a talented foodie it will help to encourage the participants own creativity in the kitchen. Reading other people’s food blogs are always a source of inspiration for myself. Here are some of great food blogs that Kick The KD participants will be reading…

Dinner With Julie

Kitchen Scraps

Eat, Live, Travel, Write

Suzie The Foodie

Tastes Better With Friends

Celiac Teen

BS’ In The Kitchen

and more!

Weekly ‘homework’ will include take home recipes from Food Network Canada with an emphasis on quick and easy, healthy dishes. I will be collecting feedback after each week’s lesson and posting the progress on my site so you can all stay in the know!

That’s all for now! Remember, if you know any individuals that could benefit from Kick The KD get them to fill out the online application!

Vegan London Fog Crème Brulée

Dan    Recipes, Something Sweet, Vegan     deceivingly delicious, dessert, quick and easy, tea, vegan, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

2 cups brewed earl grey tea

1/2 cup white sugar

3 cups soft tofu

1 10 oz can coconut milk

1 TSP vanilla

1/4 cup icing sugar

1 TBSP agar powder

*in lieu of agar, substitute with 1 cup of raw cashews, although the crème will not taste as ‘creamy’*

1/4 cup brown sugar (for topping)

Vegans will rejoice and meat-eaters shall be fooled. This recipe for vegan crème brulée is, dare I say, easier than the original version, and tastes just as delicious. I promise! Aside from the agar powder, all ingredients can be easily found at your local grocery store.

This one’s going to be nice and easy…Start off by placing the brewed tea in a small pot on the stove and add the white sugar, stirring until dissolved. Bring mixture to a simmer, and let bubble until it has reduced by half, about 15 minutes or so. In the meantime, place the tofu, coconut milk, vanilla, and icing sugar (and cashews if applicable) into a blender. Puree until smooth. Leave mixture in the blender for now.

Once the tea & sugar combo has reduced, add-in the agar powder and whisk until fully dissolved, about a 1 minute. Now, remove the lid cap of the blender, and pour the hot liquid in while ‘pulsing’. Once the liquid has blended with the puree, pour out into ramekins or small bowls, then into your refrigerator to chill until serving. The agar powder helps to thicken and set the mixture, to give it the same consistency as real crème brulée.

When you’re ready to serve, sprinkle some brown sugar on top of each ramekin, then torch (fun) or place under a broiler (not as fun) to caramelize the sugar. Serve and enjoy. Do me a favour and don’t even mention to your guests that it’s vegan until after they’ve devoured it. Good conversation topic.

Yields 6 desserts (approx. 8oz servings)

Total prep time…20 min (add at least 1 hour for chilling)

Amy Thiessen

Dan    Thoughts     awesome, local, music, organic

This Calgary-based musician wowed me the moment I heard her sing an acoustic version of TLC’s Waterfalls at Higher Ground back in September, 2010 (trust me, it was totally, utterly amazing. She even did the rap part!).

Her debut album, Give Up The Fight, is available for purchase through her website. Buy it, love it, but let it be known, that she is currently in the process of remastering the album for an official release. It’s pretty damn good already, which begs the question: What happens when you re-work something great? Probably something awesome!

Check out Amy’s website: www.amythiessen.ca

And tell her to get Twitter while you”re at it…(insert Twitter name here…)