Cookbook celebrates author’s passion for life’s sweet moments
Blessed are those whose work makes them happy.
Such is the experience of chef Renee Kohlman, a Prairie girl and NAIT-trained chef launching her new guide to gooey, All The Sweet Things (TouchWood Editions, $39.95), at Audreys tonight at 7 p.m. Now living in Saskatoon, Kohlman cut her culinary teeth in Edmonton, making exquisite scones, squares and other sweets for years at the University of Alberta’s Rutherford House, where high tea was once an art.
“It’s a way for me to get out of my head,” says Kohlman of her passion. “It’s meditative, the measuring, scooping and stirring. I love to bake up a pie and share it.”
Now, she’s sharing not only recipes for pies, but dozens of other sweet concoctions, all compiled in a hardcover book inspired by her blog, Sweetsugarbean. There are 60 never-before-seen recipes that Kohlman created, and another 40 of her absolute favourite sweets.
Readers should know, however, that the book is more than a collection of recipes. It’s also about Kohlman’s life. The recipe for French Honey Crullers is prefaced with a story about small-town Saturday nights — when Kohlman and her high school girlfriends in Lloydminster would cruise the local four-lane highway looking for boys, always ending up at Tim Hortons for snacks. Likewise, in a chapter titled Gilbert and the Pear, Kohlman reflects on the crush she had on a chef in the Yukon, where she once had a summer job as a cook at a fishing lodge. The story is linked to her recipe for Pear Custard Pie with Star Anise.
The book is a testament to following your heart, and I, for one, can’t get enough of that story. Kohlman, 44, a visual artist by training, studied fine arts at Concordia University in Montreal. Missing her mom in Saskatchewan and in an effort to feel less homesick, Kohlman would whip up sweets for her college pals.
After she graduated, and with good friends in Edmonton, Kohlman headed west in 1996, eventually giving in to her passion for the kitchen by enrolling in the culinary arts program at NAIT. Upon graduation in 1999, Kohlman cooked at various Edmonton eateries, including the now defunct Dish and Runaway Spoon, as well as the Edmonton Petroleum Club.
A chance to purchase a home for a good price in Saskatoon lured her back home, where Kohlman is now a food writer for the StarPhoenix.
The circuitous journey from artist to chef to writer wasn’t always easy. None of those things pay well.
“But it made me a strong person, and let me follow my dream and be creative,” she reflects. “I needed to study art, and I needed to study food ... If you stick with your heart and your gut, the sun shines favourably on you.”
Stay tuned for further adventures. Kohlman is now in love with a vegetable farmer, and a savoury cookbook that celebrates the harvest may well be in the works.
RHUBARB FOOL WITH CARDAMOM CREAM
A fool is a British dessert consisting of pretty poached fruit and cream layers. Serves four to five.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups (825 mL) chopped
(2 centimetre-pieces) fresh rhubarb
1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) white wine
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cardamom
1 1/2 (375 mL) cups whipping cream
1/4 cup (50 mL) full-fat sour cream
1/3 cup (75 mL) shelled and finely chopped pistachios, for garnish
1. To make the fool, place the rhubarb in a medium saucepan with the sugar and wine. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and then throw the pod in too. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn down the heat to low, simmering away for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is soft, but still holds it shape. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Remove the vanilla bean pod and discard it.
2. To make the cream, in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix together the sugar and ground cardamom on low speed. Pour in the whipping cream. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly beat in the sour cream.
3. Layer the cooled fruit and cream in pretty glass cups/ jars — you want to see the gorgeous layers. Spoon some fruit in first, then some cream, then more fruit and end with a layer of cream. Cover the fools with plastic wrap and let them chill at least one hour before serving. Garnish with chopped pistachios just before serving.
4. These will keep, covered with either plastic wrap or their lids if you are using jars, in the refrigerator for up to five days.