Volume 1 Issue 11 (November 2006)

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November 2006, Volume 1 Issue 11
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In This Issue:
Welcome to the November eFoodletter
Alan's Recipes of the Month: Our Famous Woodmont Guesthouse Chicken, and more
Update: Alan's eBook!
Subscribe
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Welcome to the November Foodletter

Greetings from the little bakery in the village!

We survived Halloween. Some of our neighbours were worried about possible damage (after the tagging incident). I was more worried that it would be too cold to sit outside and give out candy. We managed it for the first hour or so, then when our extremities went numb, we moved into the candle-lit bakery and had our dinner. Missed a few trick-or-treaters, I think, but the ones we saw were well loaded down with candy, so I'll call it another successful night.

The weather's warmed up since October and we've had no more snow. There are rumblings of some coming this weekend, but it seems unsporting to complain about it in November, so I'll save it till January...

There was great excitement at our house when we launched Alan's eBook and it started selling (thank-you, thank-you!) Thinking that maybe there was a little more we could learn about this whole e-commerce thing, we took the weekend of November 4-5 off to go to a conference in Toronto, where we discovered, of course, that we were doing it ALL WRONG. Sigh.

I kept thinking, through that weekend, that it was like an orientation course for moving to a new country. There was a whole new language to learn, concepts and customs to try to grasp. Fortunately, the dress-code is a non-issue.

Though I'm not ready to declare myself a Citizen of the Web quite yet, I do feel a little more at home than the average Internet Tourist.

As an added bonus, on the Saturday night, we were able to check out the new location for our friend Frederic's restaurant, Le Select Bistro. It's gorgeous, dinner was fabulous and we need to go back soon.

I hope your travels, wherever they may take you, are as tasty!

And Happy Thanksgiving to our American readers.
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Alan's Recipes of the Month

Woodmont Guesthouse Roasted Breast of Chicken

Ingredients
2 T Unsalted Butter
2 Chicken Breasts, bone off (optional) and skin still on (you can remove it later, if you wish)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
1/2 c Dry White Wine
1/2 c Chicken Stock
2 T Unsalted Butter

Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Heat a heavy pan (cast iron if you have it) over medium-high heat until just starting to smoke. Add the first amount of butter and swirl around until melted. Gently place the breasts skin side down into the pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Tuck the sprigs of thyme between the breasts. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the skin is a light golden brown. Turn the breasts over and season to taste with more salt and pepper. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Then turn the breasts back onto the skin side and place the pan in the oven. Cook until the meat is firm and a metal skewer (or small, sharp knife) inserted for ten seconds into the thickest part of the breast feels hot when pressed to your lower lip. Place the breasts on a plate in a warm place and cover loosely with foil.
Pour the excess oil out and return the pan to high heat on the stove. When the pan is smoking, pour in the white wine (careful, it will bubble and boil enthusiastically). Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the flavourful crusty bits. Let the wine reduce until almost gone. Add in the chicken stock and reduce by about two-thirds. Remove the pan from the heat and swirl in the second amount of butter.
Spoon half of the sauce onto each plate and place a breast on top. If the bone is off when you begin, you can slice each breast diagonally across its width into two or three pieces (fancy restaurant style).
This is a great dish that goes with just about any kind of starch - potatoes, polenta, pasta, etc.

Serves 2 and can be multiplied.


Chocolate Pudding Cake

Ingredients
2 T Unsalted Butter
3/4 c White Sugar
3/4 c All Purpose Flour
2 t Baking Powder
pinch Salt
1 oz Semi-Sweet or Bittersweet Chocolate
2 T Unsalted Butter
5 oz Milk

1/2 c White Sugar
6 T Brown Sugar
3 lg T Cocoa Powder
6 T Water

Method
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Butter an 8 inch x 8 inch ovenproof dish.
Place the chocolate, milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat and stir gently until everything is melted and well combined. Cool for 5 minutes.
Whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Beat the dry mixture into the chocolate mixture. Spread this into the prepared dish.
Whisk together the remaining sugars and cocoa powder. Sprinkle this mixture over the cake batter. Pour the water overtop.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. A toothpick should come out of the cake with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool and serve.

Serves 4-6.


Update: Alan's eCookbook

We've had a good response to Alan's first eCookbook. And a few questions. For those of you who may not have encountered one before, an eBook (short for electronic book) is simply a book that downloads to your computer. It's very tree-friendly and so easy to store. Once it's on your computer, you can display it on the screen, or print out any pages you want to.

We think it's a very exciting way to publish.

Cheers!

Barb & Alan