Tag archive for food

Green grows the garden

It’s early evening in the garden. The sun is low on the horizon and the warmth of the day is beginning to fade. For some reason, this is the time of day when dozens of dragonflies make an appearance in the sky about my yard. I see them here every year in the summer. They dip and zoom through the air as they search for food, or whatever it is they are swarming over. This is about the time I turn on my new garden lights.

lights

There are a couple of new additions to the garden this year, plantings of zucchini, cucumber, nasturtium and cheery overhead lights. I’ve devised a plan to hang strands of lights, zigzagging back and forth across the garden on the same stakes I put up for the plants. Since we are often our relaxing in the garden in the dusky evening, I think the lights are going to be a great addition to our enjoyment of the space.

free-range-lettuce

My garden seems to be doing a very good job at reflecting life this year. Parts of it are planned and organized with neat straight rows and even spacing. I’ve been working towards the best way to create green “walls” around the garden with pole beans, towering tomatoes and colorful dahlias. It’s taken a few years, but I think I’m getting this figured out! Other plants are randomly taking over the pathways, like the lettuce stalk that went to seed last summer, tossing hundreds of seeds out amongst the gravel. Turns out that I am getting some really lovely heads of lettuce from this random seed placement. Same story with the arugula that has been growing so rapidly that I’ve resorted to sharing bags of it with friends to keep up with its growth.

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The lettuce and arugula have been a wonderful start to the season. Along with those volunteer crops, I have been tending to an early salad garden with generous plantings of kale, mizuna, pretty speckled lettuces and my favorite French breakfast radishes. My salad bowl is a pretty delicious place this time of year.

blossoms

I am also giving the English peas another shot this year. I swore I wasn’t going to waste precious garden space on them again after last year’s dismal showing. The plants came up only to fall to some terrible pea pestilence before any pods reached maturity. But it’s funny what a winter’s worth of grey will do to my resolve. So with a new variety of seeds and a little crop rotation, my fingers are crossed for a better outcome this year.

Where ever you are this season, I hope a little spot of green – farmer’s market, community garden, herb pot in the window or acres of vegetables – crosses your path this summer.

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Brussels sprout + fennel lasagna

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After 45 min of sitting in front of the computer, editing photos for a totally unrelated project, it became clear that I was just procrastinating and I had no clue how to make a lasagna. This realization came as a bit of a shock to me. I have most certainly been involved in the making of these baked delights before, it seemed like a no brainer. But the truth of the matter is that I have never made a lasagne on my own.

While in the produce department of the grocery over the weekend, I found myself staring at the brussels sprouts and thinking of the lady down the aisle dishing up tiny samples of lasagna. In that moment I knew that I was going to have to make a brussles sprout lasagna. After all, I had made a pact with myself to use more brussels sprouts this season.

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I wanted this dish to pull inspiration from some of the lovely winter dishes that have made me fall in love with brussels sprouts. I have sliced the sprouts thinly, mixed a little meyer lemon into the ricotta and topped the whole dish with a creamy béchamel sauce.

With spring just around the corner, and the evening becoming longer and brighter, make sure to enjoy this cozy meal sooner rather than later.

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Brussels sprout + fennel lasagna

Ingredients
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried italian herb mix
9 ounces extra-lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups brussels sprouts thinly sliced
1/2 cup fennel bulb thinly sliced
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1/2 teaspoon meyer lemon zest
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley chopped
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon (scant) ground nutmeg
1/2 cup grates mozzarella cheese

Directions
Pre-heat over to 375°.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add noodles and follow cooking directions on the package. Drain cooked noodles and spread flat on a clean tea towel.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, herbs and beef to the pan, cook for about 14 minutes or until the beef has browned. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a sauce pan heated to medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and mix until smooth, slowly stir in the milk and add the bay leaf, salt and nutmeg. Turn pan to medium-low heat stirring occasionally until sauce thickens.

In a bowl mix together ricotta, lemon zest and parsley. Season with fresh ground pepper to taste.

Scoop enough béchamel sauce into a 8×8 baking dish to cover the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of noodles. Spread half of the ricotta mixture onto the noodles and top with half of the brussels sprouts and fennel. Add a second layer of noodles and more béchamel sauce. Next layer on all of the meat mixture and top with another layer of noodles pouring on additional béchamel sauce. Spread on the remaining ricotta, fennel and brussels sprouts and add the final layer of noodles. Pour on the remaining béchamel sauce and place in the oven.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella; bake for an additional 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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Nothing beats warm bread

The smell of warm bread always brings back a flood of memories from my childhood. Growing up, it seemed like something bread related was always going down. Either bread was being made, bread was rising or bread was in the oven. Ginger and I were often relegated to tiptoeing around the house (or the back yard) instead of our usual hectic antics, so that we didn’t cause the bread to fall. I even recall a time or two when my mom rushed to the flour bag and dredged her hands before answering the door so that she wouldn’t have to engage with the salesman who had come calling.

Over the holidays we went to visit a friend who had her mother visiting from out of town. When we arrived her mother was baking bread, and over the course of our visit she somehow managed to whip up a couple of loaves of very lovely smelling bread. She told me that she hadn’t purchased a loaf of bread in over 40 years! “Why have I not been baking bread at home?” I asked myself. Thanks to my mother and the years of taking part in a 6 am highschool bread baking program. I have no excuse, I used to bake bread and I like it!

After my visit I headed home and straight for my archives and began to search for my bread recipe. Back in the day when I used to bake more often I had a bread recipe that I really liked, it was simple and tasty. But as luck would have it, time and a few moves have left me recipe-less. I had to start fresh. I wanted a recipe that had a simple ingredient list, was easy to put together and most importantly, wouldn’t take the whole weekend to make. I started looking for a recipe that featured beer. One trick that I have learned along the way is that if you want a fairly quick loaf of bread, that somewhat resembles an artisan loaf, you need to add beer to your dough.

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No-Knead Beer Bread 
(make 2 rounds)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup warm water (about 100F)
12 oz bottled beer at room temperature
4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
cornmeal (for sprinkling on baking sheet)

For the sponge:
In a medium bowl use a wooden spoon to mix together yeast, flour and warm water. Be careful not to use too hot of water or the heat will kill the yeast. Once the ingredients are mixed together cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in a warm spot to rise for 30 minutes. I don’t have a warm place at home so I pre-heat my oven to about 75F and let the sponge rise there.

For the bread:
After 30 minutes you should have a nice bubbling bowl of sponge. Add the beer to the sponge and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the flour and salt and mix the dough until all the flour is incorporated. You should be left with a wet dough. Once again cover the bowl and return it to a warm spot to rise for 2 hours.

Once the dough has risen, use a rubber spatula to remove the dough from the sides of the bowl and turn the dough out onto a clean, well floured work surface. For more ease working with the wet dough, generously sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour and dredge your hands with flour before beginning to shape the dough. Divide the dough in half and roughly shape into two rough loaves. Sprinkle cornmeal onto a baking sheet and transfer loaves onto the sheet. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with flour, cover with a dry towel and return to a warm spot to proof for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 425F. Once the loaves have fully risen use a very sharp knife to cut a cross into the tops of the loaves. I have found that you usually need to go over the cuts a second time to make them about 3/4″ to 1″ deep. Place the bread in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. You can tell that the bread is finished baking when it develops a lovely golden crust and makes a nice hollow sound when you flick it with your fingers. Allow the bread to cool before cutting into it… haha who am I kidding. Have atter.

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Mushroom bourguignon & memories of forest scavenging

Growing up mushrooms were a pretty big deal. Every fall the whole family would pile into the car and head up into the woods to gather up buckets full of their earthy goodness. I have to admit that for me the joy of mushroom season came from running around in the woods searching for hidden treasure. Forging through fallen damp leaves was significantly more pleasurable than sitting down to a plate of mushrooms. The imminent  fear of death by poisoning didn’t help much either. This is not to say that I dislike mushrooms, on the contrary, I am a mushroom fearing person but as a young person cultivated mushrooms were where it was at. Unfortunately this story isn’t about the wild mushrooms of my childhood, but instead the humble Cremini.

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On the big night I some how I managed to coax Scott into coming along with me and we headed out to the store only to join about 150 other like-minded people who also wanted to meet Deb too. Unfortunately for me most of those 150 people had shown up early or at least earlier than me! After spending two hours waiting in line I had my signed book in hand and was rushing home to begin examining the pages and planning the next meal I was going to make. And then I found it: Mushroom bourguignon. I’m not going to share the recipe with you or give you my adapted version; I’m just going to suggest that you march right down to your neighbourhood bookstore and pickup a copy of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook for yourself. So far I have made 3 or 4 recipes out of the book and nothing has disappointed. What I love most about this cookbook is that the recipes are totally approachable and you can tell that all the food was cooked in the Smitten Kitchen. No elaborate setup, just delicious food, charming words and lovely images. So glad I got to meet you Deb and thank you for the lovely cookbook!

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Linger at the table

I come from a family of people who linger. I don’t need to share all of the details, but there is this epic story of my dad sipping a latte all the way from Vancouver proper up to Whistler. It is a bit of a drive and most people would have finished the drink in the walk between the coffee shop and the car. And while I won’t be found sipping up the last drops of coffee from my cup hours later, I’ll likely be lingering too long over something else.

One of my favorite places to linger has to be the kitchen. I know some people feel like the kitchen houses the equipment needed to prep a meal and once that is done, get out! At my house, the kitchen seems to be the focal point of the whole house. Throughout the day, many hours are spent in this room—we wake up there with cups of warm coffee and wrap up the evening there too, trying to fit in bits of conversation over the happy sounds of the boy playing close by. And when we’re enjoying a relaxing meal, it seems like the perfect time to bring out the artichokes.

Artichokes are really in season two times a year—spring and then again in the fall. Of course, these days it seems like one can find artichokes no matter what time of year. But I like finding them in season for better selection and price. More artichoke meals for my dollar, you know?

Don’t be fooled into thinking that bigger is always better. With artichokes, one must consider the pot size needed to cook these beauties. If the artichoke gets too big, it might almost require its own pot for cooking, which is not great when you are cooking for friends! And speaking of friends, that is where this recipe comes from.

For the better part of my life, artichokes have always been cooked in a pot of boiling water. It works well, but plan accordingly because it can take a while to cook a pot of artichokes. Then, a few years back, I stumbled over the idea of roasting artichokes. It might take even longer than the boiling routing, but the flavor that builds up is amazing. And talk about simple, just slide the pot into oven and wait for an hour or two.

But what about that day when you decide to make artichokes for lunch with friends? It’s a great idea, sitting around the table chatting and pulling leaves off of piles of artichokes. In that case, you’d better have a plan up your sleeve. And what’s where this gem of a recipe comes in. Feed a few or a crowd, this tasty preparation is sure to be a hit.

My “recipe” is a little loose because it is dependant on how many are eating, the size of the artichokes and what else will be served with the meal. With the large artichokes that are in season now, I usually plan on half an artichoke per person. It leaves room to serve a few other dishes alongside it. And don’t even think about substituting the butter out for olive oil or anything else. The browned butter that results is so very important to the flavor that developes in this dish.
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Braised artichokes

Artichokes, washed and trimmed

Butter

Chicken broth

White wine, optional

Fresh herbs, optional (I used a few sprigs of thyme, sage, rosemary and fennel)

To prepare the artichokes, slice in half, starting with the stem first. The artichokes will begin to darken as soon as they are cut, so work with one artichoke at a time. Scoop out the choke and some of the smallest leaves.

In a large pan, melt a generous pat of butter over medium-high heat and add the artichokes, cut side down. Allow to cook until beautifully golden and fragrant, about seven to 10 minutes. Don’t hesitate to add a little more butter if the pan looks dry. Add enough broth and wine, if using, to cover the bottom of the pan to about ½-inch deep. Nestle the herbs in the pan. Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium and cover with a lid.

Allow to cook for about 20 minutes, checking to ensure there is enough cooking liquid at about the 10-minute mark. If not, add a little more liquid. Check for doneness by poking the heart with a knife, very gently of course! The knife should go in easily, much like a properly cooked potato.

Remove from heat and serve immediately. Garnish with dipping sauces as desired.

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Back to the drawing board

A while back I told you about my new colouring book that was going to be an excellent foray back into drawing. As it happens things didn’t pan out so well for me and the colouring book. If you came over to visit me right now you would still find that lonely colour book resting on the coffee table, first drawing still not totally coloured in.

It’s not considered as http://seanamic.com/caley-nominated-as-best-company/ levitra online harmful as a steroid. Many a times when we were given a chance to lead a normal and buy sildenafil online happy life. There are valuable of buy vardenafil levitra is of same quality as of cialis. Much should be possible to counteract or cheapest price for viagra overcome a hefty portion of the conditions that aggravate the psyche. Since then I have gone to see Moonrise Kingdom and looked at a number of drawing books all in the hopes of finding a little inspiration. And while it was all inspirational nothing really drove me to rush home and pick up my pen. Finally after much ado I hulled out some old drawing notebooks and reviewed some old work and decided it was high time to start drawing again. With fall just around the corner I hope that I have finally turned a new leaf. Perhaps drawing is more of a fall activity for me anyway.

 

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Noodles ahoy

I kind of feel like the only thing that I have been talking about lately is food. But it is difficult not to! We all eat and we eat 3 meals a day which works out to 21 meals a week, that is a pretty substantial part of the week. Not to mention the planning, prep and clean up that goes along with each one of those meals. By the way, this is what my kitchen looked like on Monday after I finished baking the sticky buns.

With spring on its way the last thing I want to do is spend the evening over the stove. Enter the rice noodle. Rice noodles could quite possibly be the unsung hero of weekday dinners. They are fast, easy and ridiculously versatile. In fact, some of our favourite dinners around my house feature rice noodles. Take Pad Thai for example, fast and delicious.
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These are the three rice noodle staples around here: Quick Singapore NoodlesFive-Spice Chicken noodle Salad and Shrimp Pad Thai. They are all quick, fresh and vibrant dishes that come together in no time flat!

 

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Running to stand still

I feel like I have been stuck in a U2 song for the last week. Everything has been go go go and it seems like there hasn’t been a lot of forward motion. I still have tons of projects that I would like to do, a new book that I would really like to be reading right now, recipes that I want to make and worst of all, projects that I have started but have put on hold because other things became more important. On top of all that I have been training 5 days a week for the impending BMO half marathon and have also decided that I want to buy myself a colouring book so I can do some evening colouring! I hear it is really good for your mind.

With all this going on I want to take a few minutes to share with you some of the extra yummy looking recipes that I have seen and wish I had more time to make!

The Kitchn is one of my favourite blogs for all things food and they recently featured a Lemon-Scented Pull-Apart Loaf that looks to die for.

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Of course, as you all know weekend breakfast is very important for me and what better way to celebrate the weekend than with some Carrot Cake Pancakes.

Last but not least Boston Cream Cupcakes!!!!! Nuff said.

What are you cooking this weekend? Oh, by the way do you think that I have enough tacos shells… to feed an army!

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Real life

The reality of the situation is that I eat sandwiches for dinner, sometimes pancakes and eggs and I’m not lying here, popcorn too. Sometimes the simple things are just what I need. For me having a dinner time sandwich is kind of like the times when arguing over crunchy vs smooth peanut butter is more interesting than grown up talk.
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The simple and delicious BLT is like an intellectual break for your mouth. It is simple to make, easy to sink your teeth into and comes as a welcome break from slaving over the stove for hours. Breaks are good, whether it is a break for your mouth, your mind, your body or whatever, breaks are good!

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Just eat it!


One of my favourite dinners is one that usually requires a little extra time to pull together. But it isn’t cooking time, it’s fun time. I love charcuterie for dinner. Now you may think: why would that take extra time? I will tell you, I like to head down to Granville Island and make an afternoon out of getting dinner supplies.

Granville Island is basically a tourist and food junkies heaven. The Island is located under the Granville bridge right at the water’s edge. Which means, as well as being the perfect place to get all your supplies, it is also best enjoyed when you have a little time to take in the scenery, grab a coffee and relax rather than loosing your mind trying to fight the hoards of wandering tourists.

When I first moved to Vancouver I basically lived on the Island. I went to school there and had a part-time job in the market, so I feel like I have a pretty good handle on which shops to patron. The first stop, is actually a little off the island at les amis du fromage. Not only do they have a marvelous selection of cheeses but also, all the accoutrements your heart desires. A little cultured butter and quince paste anyone?

At the entrance to the island is a favorite building of mine, The Waterfall Building by the late great Arthur Erickson. I always have to stop and take a photo.

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Once inside the market meats, bread, fresh produce and yummy treats abound. Loris at Zara’s Pasta will hook you up with the best olives around and Oyama Sausage is my pick for a fantastic selection of meats and pate, just to name a few.

And with all the ingredients at home, just eat it!

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