Faita - In the kitchen with Stefano Faita: over 250 simple and delicious everyday recipes

PENGUIN an imprint of Penguin Canada Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published 2013 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Copyright Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Stefano Faita Inc., 2013 Food photography: Leila Ashtari Other photography: Darren Goldstein, Vanessa Heins, Tim Leyes All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. Manufactured in the U.S.A. LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION Faita, Stefano, author In the kitchen with Stefano Faita : over 250 simple and delicious everyday recipes / Stefano Faita. Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-14-318878-0 (pbk.) 1. Cooking. 2. Cookbooks. I. Title.

TX714.F345 2013 641.5 C2013-904044-7 Visit the Penguin Canada website at www.penguin.ca Special and corporate bulk purchase rates available; please see www.penguin.ca/corporatesales or call 1-800-810-3104, ext. 2477. To all the viewers who spend time with me In the Kitchen. CONTENTSINTRODUCTION Hello, fellow cooks! Thanks so much for giving this cookbook a place in your kitchen. Its exciting to think that these recipes will help you put dinner on the table each night, entertain friends on weekends or simply make something delicious that makes you proud. Its an honour to be in your homes on television every afternoon.

When we shoot In the Kitchen with Stefano Faita in CBCs Toronto studios in front of a live audience, I get an amazing opportunity to talk to you, one-on-one. You ask me food questions and personal questions, but the thing I get asked the most is, How did In the Kitchen come to be? Well, it all started with my familys store in Montral. We own a shop called Dantes, in Little Italy. It carries housewares and hunting supplies. It has been written up in magazines and seen on TV shows, becoming a popular stop for locals and tourists. Ive worked there since I was a kid.

We also own the Mezza Luna cooking school on the same street. My mom, Elena, is pretty well known in food circles and does guest spots on various TV shows. I would go to cooking classes and TV tapings with her, and at a young age I was bitten by the cooking bug, too. Once, when my mom was unable to appear on a local food show, I took her placethat was the start of my being on TV. I had a real job as a graphic designer for a whileand I wasnt bad at it, eitherbut I soon discovered that looking at a computer screen all day wasnt for me. So I took a big leap.

I wrote a cookbook, in French. It came pretty naturally to me, this food thing, and it shocked me how much people responded to my recipes. I even won a couple of awards for my book. Then TV came calling... literally. About four years ago, while working at Dantes, I got a call from Krista Look, an executive producer with CBC Television in Toronto.

She had come across my French cookbook and had seen some interviews Id done and said she had a vision for a TV show that would bring my food to people across the country. That was cool. Krista came to Montral and we talked for ages over espressos and panini. She knew she couldnt promise me anything, but she said she would keep me posted as she pitched her concept to the big cheeses in Toronto. And she did. It takes a long time to get a show concept off the ground in this business, but she did whatever she had to do to get us on the airmaking demo reels, writing pitches, talking to anyone who would listen about this crazy guy in Montral who could cook.

Two years passed and I started work on two TV shows in Qubec. I was getting pretty well known in French Canada. I was happy. I was busy. But I was always hopeful that I would get a chance to share my food with English-speaking Canada, too. We did. We did.

Then we waited. Six months later, I was flown to Toronto to receive the news in person: In the Kitchen with Stefano Faita was a go. Two seasons and 155 episodes later, this book is our answer to the second most asked question during those audience breaks in the studio: When are you coming out with an English cookbook? In these pages are more than 250 recipes that I have developed with our fantastic In the Kitchen food team. Every one of them is a fan favourite from the series, and I love that now theyre all in one place for you to enjoy. When we started writing this book together and choosing the recipes, Krista and I were sure to include all the things that viewers like about our TV showall the ingredient substitutions and suggestions about how and when to serve each dish. If youve seen me cook on TV, you know precision isnt my strongest suit.

I add an extra drizzle of olive oil or a shaving of Parmesan to almost every dish, which makes it tougher to nail down a recipe, but our team made sure the recipes in this book are rock-solid. I would make any one of them for my family or friends. But I hope you experiment with them, like I domake them your own, adjust them to your taste. Please dont just look longingly at the beautiful photographs, thinking the dishes are too complicated to try. Get in the kitchen, roll up your sleeves, put on some music and pour a glass of winewell cook our way through this book together. Bon apptit, guys! STEFANOVery Berry Smoothie Theres nothing better than a smoothie to put fuel in your engine and kick-start your day in a healthy way.

Packed with yogurt, sweet berries and a hint of maple syrup, this is a rich smoothie thats a definite keeper. MAKES 4 SERVINGS TIP For an extra-healthy kick, add 2 tbsp (30 mL) ground flaxseeds, flax oil or wheat germ. And feel free to substitute regular yogurt for the Greek-style variety. 1 cup (250 mL) Greek-style plain yogurt cup (125 mL) blueberries cup (125 mL) halved strawberries cup (125 mL) raspberries 1 mango, peeled and diced (or 1 cup/ 250 mL frozen mango pieces) 2 tbsp (30 mL) maple syrup cup (125 mL) soy milk 2 to 3 ice cubes Place all ingredients in a blender. Pure until smooth.