Cranberry-Cabbage Salad

This recipe comes from Edna Staebler's Mennonite cookbook entitled Food that Really Schmecks. It is a colourful, crisp, tart salad that goes well with chicken, turkey or pork. If you like purple food, you’ll like this salad.

Ingredients:
- 6 cups of finely shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup of cranberries (I used dried cranberries but you could use cooked cranberries)
- 1 cup of sliced celery
- sour cream mixed with 2 tbsp. 'Mother’s Salad Dressing'

Mother’s Salad Dressing Concentrate (not sure whose mother)
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- pinch of salt
- ½ cup of water
- 1 egg, well beaten
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup vinegar
- sprinkle of cayenne pepper
- whipped or sour cream

Instructions:
Mix the flour, mustard and salt with the water and add to the beaten egg and brown sugar. Slowly stir in the vinegar and add the cayenne. Thicken the mixture in a heavy-bottomed pot or double boiler on the stove stirring continuously. Chill this concentrate and keep it in the refrigerator tightly covered. (It keeps well). Blend a couple of tablespoons of the concentrate with enough whipped cream or sour cream to dress the cabbage salad.

Parsnip and Pear Soup

This is another Foodland Ontario recipe. https://www.ontario.ca/foodland/recipes/parsnip-and-pear-cream-soup-0 Their fall recipe flyer had me in its thrall.

The soup has great flavour if you happen to like parsnips and pears, and interestingly, did not require the addition of either salt or pepper to enhance its taste. I did find the texture to be somewhat fibrous but that may be because I did not peel the pears (as suggested in the recipe). I did attempt to make parsnip chips to garnish the soup, but unfortunately answered a phone call at a rather critical point in the frying process, and that was the end of that.

Vegetarian Casserole, in the style of Shepherd’s Pie

 

The casserole queen has done it again, this time with a vegetarian number in the style of a Shepherd's or Cottage Pie. Quinoa replaces the ground meat, and goat cheese is added to a potato/parsnip topping. Flavourful mushrooms form the middle of this layered dish.  A really delicious recipe for a multi-tasker to undertake.

Ingredients for the bottom layer:

- 3-4 cups cooked quinoa

- 2 onions, finely diced

- 2 stalks celery, finely diced

- 2 carrots, finely diced

- 1 small zucchini, finely diced

- 1 cup frozen peas

- 1 tsp mustard powder

- 2 tbps. ‘better than bouillon’ mushroom in 1 cup water

- 1 clove garlic, smashed and chopped finely.

- pepper and chopped fresh herbs to taste. 

- a few dashes Worcestershire sauce
- a handful of chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
 

Ingredients for the middle layer:
- one onion sliced thinly
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- about 3 cups of chopped/sliced mushrooms
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- pepper to taste

Ingredients for the top layer:
- 4 large potatoes
- 4 medium-sized parsnips
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 4 ounces chevre
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
- 1 cup of white cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Then construct the casserole. If you're a well-organized type A personality, you can work on preparing the ingredients for the 3 layers simultaneously.

Bottom layer

Sauté the onions in a tbsp. of olive oil for several minutes, then add all of remaining ingredients and cook until the carrots are just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cooked quinoa and a large handful of chopped parsley. Put the quinoa/ vegetable mixture in the bottom of a large buttered casserole dish and spread flat.

Middle layer

Sauté the onion, garlic and mushrooms 2 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil until brown. Add freshly ground pepper. Spread the mushrooms over the quinoa base.

 

Top layer

As you are sautéing the bottom and middle layers of the casserole, boil the potatoes and parsnips in salted water in a medium-sized pot on the stove until tender, then drain and let ‘dry’ for a couple of minutes. Mash the vegetables with 2 tbsp. butter and 4 ounces of chevre. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the potato/parsnip mash over the mushroom layer.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the scallions and cheddar on top. Bake the casserole for an additional 30 minutes until bubbling at edges and the cheese is a little crispy.

Walnut Pasta Squared

What follows are two recipes for pasta with walnuts. The first has an olive-oil based sauce, the second sauce is cream-based. I actually made a variation on these recipes today by using Farfalle pasta with the walnut-garlic-rosemary-cream-based sauce and omitting cheese altogether. 

Walnut Farfalle

I happen to like bow-tie pasta, also known as Farfalle. You don't have to use Farfalle but it's best to use some form of short pasta for this recipe.

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of walnuts, very finely chopped or whizzed in a blender or pounded with a mortar and pestle
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons marjoram, chopped
- 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup pecorino Romano, grated
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 pound of short pasta

Instructions:
Start by heating a large pot of salted water. In the meantime, toast the walnuts in a 350F degree oven until they are golden, 8-10 minutes. Place the garlic and salt in a mortar and pestle, and pound everything to a fine paste. Add the walnuts to the mortar and pestle and pound, again into a paste. Alternately, you can do this in a food processor or just chop everything finely by hand as I did.  What's a little tendinitis, here and there.

Transfer the nut mixture to a bowl. Stir in the olive oil, then add most of the herbs. Stir in the pecorino, taste, and adjust the seasoning. Essentially, you have made a pesto with walnuts.

Cook the pasta al dente. Drain and reserve a big cup of the pasta water. Toss the walnut pesto with the pasta, and thin out the sauce with the reserved water as necessary. Serves 6.

Walnut Linguine

This is another delicious recipe that uses toasted walnuts with pasta. I had it tucked away in my recipe binder. I actually prefer it to the one posted above. Could it be the cream?

Ingredients:
- about 1 cup of finely chopped toasted walnuts
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream (35% B.F.)
- 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 1 lb of linguine (450 gm)
- 1/4 cup of finely grated Parmesan
- salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Sauté garlic in the butter, then add the nuts, cream and rosemary over a medium low heat until the sauce is slightly thickened. In the meantime, boil a large pot of salted water and cook the pasta. Drain the pasta and combine with the cream sauce. Add the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Baby Roots with Sherry-Shallot Vinaigrette, from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

The salad that I made for friends today was a slight variation of a recipe in Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen cookbook. Basically, I left out the quinoa that she put in. By the way, it was the first time I had tried roasting radishes....and hey, they're not just for raw veggie trays anymore.



I served this dish at room temperature but suspect it equally good if served warm or cold.



Ingredients:
- 3 small shallots
- olive oil
- 1 and 1/2 pounds of mixed root vegetables ( I use baby turnips, radishes, potatoes and carrots)
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

For the vinaigrette:
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar plus more for finishing
- 2 big pinches of coarse salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- pepper

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the shallots and separate the cloves. Place the shallots in a square of aluminum foil, coat with olive oil, then wrap the foil around the cloves to create a packet and place it in the oven.

Arrange the rest of the vegetables in one layer on a baking sheet and coat them with olive oil. Squeeze lemon juice over the vegetables and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place the vegetables into the oven with the packet of shallots and roast until tender and slightly caramelized. (Perhaps 30 minutes). 

Remove the vegetables from the oven and set aside. Toss the cooked shallots into a blender along with the sherry and balsamic vinegars and salt and pepper. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend thoroughly. Adjust the seasonings to taste, then spoon the vinaigrette over the vegetables. I 'finished' the dish before serving with some drops of reduced balsamic vinegar. 

Smoky Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

This recipe is drawn from Food 52:Vegan by Gena Hamshaw. I don't prepare vegan food per se,(in fact, I just finished eating a toasted bacon sandwich), but happen to be very fond of sweet potatoes, and am not averse to black beans, which are two primary ingredients in this recipe. Plus, it seems like a nice kind of warm and earthy dish to eat at this time of year.

The suggested topping for this dish is sliced avocado and chives, but since I had only hard rock-hard avocados available when I made it, I  decided to photograph the chili with some sour cream on top.

Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cups chopped white or yellow onion
- 4 cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes, cubed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 chipotle in adobo, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 14.5-oz (398 mL) can diced tomatoes
- 3 1/2 cups (875 mL) cooked black beans
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) vegetable broth, plus more as needed
- salt
- 1 avocado, sliced, for garnish
- a handful of thinly sliced chives or green onions

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, then add the sweet potatoes and garlic and sauté for another 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chipotle in adobo, chili powder, cumin, and paprika and cook, stirring constantly. Next, stir in the tomatoes, beans and broth and bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potatoes are tender, (30 to 35 minutes). Add more broth if the chili becomes too thick, and finally, season with salt to taste. The longer this chili sits, (within reason), the more the flavours will come together. Serve it topped with avocado and chives.

Editorial Note: If your chili tastes too acidic, add a tablespoon of white sugar to the pot. I also like adding a spoonful of cocoa powder to all of my chilis, vegan or not.

Sweet Potato and Corn Soup

This fresh-tasting soup was inspired by a chowder described by Lucy Waverman in her column in the Globe & Mail on August 22, 2015. The above photo shows an unadorned vegetarian version of the soup, which could be made much more impressive, and less vegetarian, with a healthy sprinkling of fried bits of bacon. Of note, this soup was actually better on Day 2, after the paprika had released all its smoky flavour.

Ingredients:
- 3 cobs of fresh corn, kernels removed with a sharp knife
- 1 onion diced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- additional salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Instructions:
In a fairly large and heavy-bottomed pot, lightly sauté the diced onion in the butter and salt. Add the sweet potatoes and sauté lightly for several minutes before the addition of water to the pot (along with the 3 cobs of corn from which you have removed the kernels). Simmer the vegetables until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a sharp knife. Remove the cobs from the pot and discard, then add the corn kernels and paprika. Simmer for several minutes longer in order to cook the corn, then remove the soup from the heat and use an immersible whizzer to blend it thoroughly. Add 1/4 cup heavy cream (or not), and place the soup back on the heat to re-warm. Add salt and pepper to taste. 


Hold the cob upright in a bowl, and use a sharp knife to slice off the kernels. No fuss, no muss. 

 

This looks odd, but simmering the 'nude' corn cobs along with the sweet potato adds flavour, and your friends will be impressed with your obviously very-sophisticated cooking technique.

A salad in the style of Capri - Caprese Salad, that is

A 'composed' salad.

From the land of pedal pushers (a.k.a. Capri pants) comes another summer staple, Caprese salad. It's actually more of an antipasto than a salad. Adding a bit of balsamic vinegar to the ingredients makes it more salad-like I suppose, albeit less traditional. This dish is best when served at room temperature. Use the most fragrantly ripe summer tomatoes you can find. 

Ingredients:
- 3 or 4 sliced tomatoes (depending on how large you want your salad to be)
- about 10 leaves of fresh basil, placed on the plate as whole leaves or ribboned as shown above
- fresh mozzarella cheese (in this case, I used bocconcini) 
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- drizzle of olive oil
- splash of balsamic vinegar ( optional)

Editorial Note: The whole point of using the sponge-like and pretty much tasteless mozzarella cheese is to absorb the flavours of the other ingredients.

Using up the zucchini- Vegetarian 'Carpaccio'

According to Wikipedia, Carpaccio is a dish of raw meat or fish (such as beef, veal, salmon, venison or tuna) generally thinly sliced or pounded thin and served as an appetizer. Harry’s Bar in Venice takes credit for its invention, as does the Savini Restaurant in Milan. Depending on which story you believe, the dish is either called Carpaccio because its hues are reminiscent of the colours used by the artist Carpaccio or because the artist’s name was used as code for a dish that genteel women did not want to be seen ordering (i.e. raw meat). The term Carpaccio is now used to describe anything that is thinly sliced; in this case, it’s zucchini.

The following is a slightly revised recipe that originated with Lucy Waverman of the Globe and Mail; it can be used as an appetizer or substitute salad.

Ingredients:
- enough raw zucchini to fill a serving platter or 4 individual serving dishes when thinly sliced. Use small or medium sized zucchini.
- juice of one lemon
- 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
- approximately ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- crunchy, large grain salt (for both flavour and texture)
- Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Slice the zucchini very thinly on the diagonal with a mandolin or sharp knife; the thinner the slices the better. Place the slices in a circular pattern on individual serving dishes or on a platter. Combine lemon juice, mustard and olive oil and drizzle over the zucchini. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Using a vegetable peeler, shave Parmesan over the zucchini, as much as you like.

Green Tomato Chutney

 
My sister gave me some green tomatoes from her garden, determined to thwart the thieving deer.

In searching my files for a tried and true recipe for green tomato mincemeat, I happened upon one for green tomato chutney. This recipe card was written in the unmistakable hand of my old friend Holly, someone I haven't seen in many years but think of frequently. This chutney is dark and savoury, and may remind some of Branston Pickle.

Green tomatoes, saved from the maws of Lanark County deer.

Ingredients:
- 3 pounds green tomatoes, chopped
- 1.5 pounds onions, chopped
- 1 pound apples, peeled and chopped
- 2 cups malt vinegar
- 1.5 pounds brown sugar
- 6 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp. mustard seed
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 3/4 tsp. cayenne ( I left this out to no ill effect)
- 1/4 cup pickling salt

Instructions:

Chop the vegetables and cook in a heavy-bottomed pot for 1 hour with the vinegar. Add the remaining ingredients; cook for another 2 hours. Bottle in a sterilized jars ( as per previous instructions on this blog for strawberry and plum jam).

'Tis the season for Ontario Corn

...it's very dark inside the corn pot.

Some people cover these cobs in water and boil the heck out of them. In my experience, very little water and very little time is required to cook fresh corn on the cob. You do need a large pot with a tightly-fitting lid so that the steam from the boiling water in the bottom of the pot reaches every single kernel. To test for doneness, use the end of a sharp knife to pierce a kernel. It should be easily piercable.

Add butter and salt.

Holy Green Guacamole

There is nothing like the spring-green colour of a perfectly ripe avocado. Guacamole is an avocado-based dip that originated in Mexico. It is traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados with a molcajete (mortar and pestle) and adding tomatoes and seasonings. Guacamole was made by the Aztecs as early as the 1500s. After the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, guacamole became popular in Spain. The name comes from an Aztec dialect, from āhuacatl (="avocado") + molli (="sauce"). (Source: Wikipedia) Over the years I have refined my recipe for guacamole to its simple green essence. More traditional recipes contain additional ingredients such as tomato, chilies, cumin, garlic, black pepper, hot pepper sauce and cilantro. Guacamole is one of those dishes where you can play around with the ingredients to suit your taste and arrive at a "house" version of this traditional Mexican dip. This is the version that you will get Chez Bubba.

Ingredients:
- 2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded
- 2 chopped scallions/green onions (use both the green and white parts)
- juice of one juicy lime (2 tablespoons)
- salt to taste

Cut the avocado into large chunks and mash coarsely in a bowl with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and blend gently. The guacamole does not have to be absolutely smooth. Leaving a few small chunks is fine and some people prefer it that way.

Editorial Note: Lime juice adds flavor and slows the enzyme-caused browning so get it on the avocado quickly.

Hummus Redux

A friend of my sister Sylvia gave me this idea for enhanced hummus.

Hummus is a staple. Adding a few extra ingredients simply heightens the hummus experience.

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups of regular hummus, available at most grocery stores on this planet
- a cup of peeled and cubed cucumber
- 3 green onions (a.k.a. scallions) chopped
- 2 inch cube of feta cheese crumbled
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Place the hummus in the bottom of a smallish serving bowl (it must hold at least 2 cups). Ring the  the bowl with the cucumber, then place the chopped scallions inside the ring of cucumber. Fill in the middle of the dish with the crumbled feta. Season with salt and pepper to taste (remembering that feta is a very salty cheese) and drizzle with a small amount of oil. Serve with the crackers of your choice.

Ratatouille

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I had some baby zucchini in my fridge along with lots of sweet peppers, so decided to make the stewed vegetable dish that was made famous by a rodent in a movie by the same name…Ratatouille. Wikipedia provides the correct pronunciation of this colourful dish:

Draft

I had some baby zucchini in my fridge along with lots of sweet peppers, so decided to make the stewed vegetable dish that was made famous by a rodent in a movie by the same name…Ratatouille. Wikipedia provides the correct pronunciation of this colourful dish:

Ratatouille ( rat-ə-TOO-ee) is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish, originating in Nice. The full name of the dish is ratatouille niçoise.

 

Ratatouille is usually served as a side dish, but also may be served as a meal on its own accompanied by pasta, rice or bread. Tomatoes are a key ingredient, with garlic, onions, courgette (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), bell peppers, marjoram and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence. Ratatouille is a dish extremely popular with dieters since not only is it low in fat and calories, but it's high in nutrients.

 

Ingredients:

• 5 baby (4-5 inch long or about 10 cm) zucchini, sliced cross-wise into bite-sized pieces
• 1 large cooking onion, peeled, halved and sliced
• 2 sweet red peppers, gutted and sliced
• 1 large clove of garlic, smashed and finely chopped ( or more, to taste)
• 1 small tin of cherry tomatoes ( or about a cup and a half of fresh tomatoes, chopped)
• herbs and salt and pepper to taste ( I used some sprigs of fresh thyme and marjoram)
• tablespoon of olive oil for sauteing

Place all ingredients in a saute pan and cook over moderate heat until all of the vegetables are softly stewed. You can use this as an omelet or crepe filling, or as I did, a vegetable side dish. You’ll notice that I omitted the aubergine; despite its lovely sounding name, it ends up rather greyish when cooked. Ratatouille isn’t exactly a glamourous dish and needs all the help it can get when it comes to looks.

Mushroom Tarte

I saw a recipe for a mushroom tarte in the fall edition of the LCBO Food and Drink magazine, which I carefully cut out and held safely in my purse for several weeks until I decided that I was quite in the mood for mushroom tarte. It's sort of like when I decide I need a haircut, I really need a haircut. Right away. 

Of course, I'd lost the recipe. No matter. There's nothing much in a mushroom tarte other than some mushrooms...oh, and a bit of cream , of course. This made-up-on-the-spot recipe was actually pretty good. And in case you're interested, I don't need a haircut.

Ingredients:

• 2   277 g. containers of sliced mushroom, one of white mushrooms and the other, cremini (or whatever combination you like)
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1/2 cup of 35% cream (aka. whipping cream)
• 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• sufficient pastry for a single pastry shell ( see post dated Oct. 2, 2012 on this blog)

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Sauté the onions and mushrooms in the butter until soft, add the rosemary, salt, pepper, and cream and simmer until the cream has reduced slightly. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and allow the mixture to cool somewhat. Roll out your pastry and fit it into the bottom of a pie plate or fluted tarte pan if you're fancy. Bake in the pre-heated oven until the crust is a lovely golden brown.



Prior to popping in the oven.

Deb Perelman's Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette

This is  a recipe from the cookbook that is new to my bookshelf, The Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman. I served this savoury galette at a recent brunch to rave reviews. Christine ate half of it. I think she liked it.

Interestingly, the flavour of the squash was good even though it was not entirely ripe. Why did I use an unripe vegetable you might ask? It's because I get flustered by people who sell gourds, alright? Let's leave it at that.

Ingredients:

• a 2.5 pound butternut squash
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1and 1/2 teaspoons salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups of grated fontina cheese
• 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh sage (I used dry sage and it seemed to work) 
• 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon of water for the pastry glaze
• a single pie crust ( see recipe on this blog under the label 'Pastry") 

First prepare the squash. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Peel and seed the squash, then cut it into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes. Toss it in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the oven in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes or until the squash is tender, turning occasionally to ensure even browning. Set aside to cool but leave the oven on. 

While the squash is roasting, melt the butter and the remaining tablespoon of oil in a heavy skillet and cook the onions over medium low heat with the sugar and the remaining teaspoon of salt, stirring occasionally until soft and tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the cayenne pepper if you're using it.

Mix the squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl. To assemble the galette, roll the dough out to a 16 inch round. Transfer the rolled dough to a parchment covered baking sheet. Spread the squash, cheese and onion mixture over the centre of the circle of dough leaving a 2 to 2 and 1/2 inch border.

Fold the border over the filling, pleating the dough to make it fit. The centre will be open. Brush the outside of the crust with the egg yolk wash and bake until golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. This can be served warm or at room temperature.

Poached Apricots for Brunch

 

With the abundant harvest available in August, I’d gone on a buying spree and along with a counter top of other late- summer fruits I had a basket of fresh apricots to deal with. Luckily these amber gems were very easy to pit and freeze, so that was my stop-gap measure. Last Sunday, when I needed some fruit to serve at brunch, I brought the apricots out of the freezer and poached them. They were lovely and refreshing served with a little Greek yogurt, a drizzle of honey and some toasted slivered almonds.

 

Wikipedia defines poaching as the process of gently simmering food in liquid, generally milk, stock or wine. Poaching is particularly suitable for delicate food, such as eggs, poultry, fish and fruit, which might easily fall apart or dry out. For this reason, it's important to keep the heat low and to keep the poaching time to a bare minimum, which will also preserve the flavor of the food.

 

Ingredients:

-          about 4 cups of fresh or frozen apricot halves

-          about a cup and a half of water

-          3 tablespoons granulated white sugar

-          3 tablespoons of honey

-          1 vanilla pod, split

 

Combine the water, sugar, honey and vanilla pod in a pot on the stove and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has reduced by about one quarter. Add the fruit and allow it to cook in the poaching liquid on simmer until softened but not falling to bits. (Between 5-15 minutes depending on whether you used frozen or fresh fruit). Remove from the heat and refrigerate the fruit in the poaching liquid before serving.

 

Editorial Note: I poached the fruit a couple of days prior to my brunch and happened to leave the vanilla bean in the poaching liquid with the fruit. It’s my sense that the fruit was thereby darkened more than it needed to be. So, you might want to consider removing the vanilla bean after the cooking is complete and see if the gorgeous apricot colour remains more stable.

Zucchini Ribbons with Almond Pesto

So, I received another cookbook for my birthday this year. I don't love all cookbooks but I love this one. It's called the Smitten Kitchen and it's by a young New Yorker named Deb Perelman. Her kitchen floor looks like mine, her utensils look like mine, her food philosophy is almost like mine. She's got a cute baby who has his very own cute little kitchen. Here's the link to her website.  http://smittenkitchen.com/ 

This zucchini recipe is hers. And remember, we revere zucchini recipes.



Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup almonds, toasted and cooled
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 pounds medium zucchini, trimmed ( about 4)

Grind the almonds , Parmesan, garlic and red pepper flakes in a food processor  until finely chopped. Add the lemon juice, salt and olive oil and pulse until combined. Place the pesto dressing in a serving bowl. Use a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini into ribbons. Then add the zucchini to the bowl with the dressing and toss gently. Serve at room temperature.

Toasting the almonds.

Salad Composé - Upcycling boiled beets

This was a tasty and attractive use of leftover beets. Waste not, want not.

Ingredients:

- 4 smallish boiled beets sliced
- 5 small tomatoes sliced
- 2 inch square of feta cheese sliced
- a teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest and juice of half a lemon
- a teaspoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary
- drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


Basically all you do with a salad composé is exactly that... you compose it whatever way you like. In this case, I made a fairly geometric design with the vegetables. Just before serving, I sprinkled the salad with the zest, rosemary, lemon juice , salt and pepper and olive oil.

Pear and Fennel Salad

The whacky fennel bulb

My niece loved this crisp and flavourful salad, which I made for her on the weekend.

Whisk 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar with 1/2 teaspoon crushed anise seed, salt and pepper in a serving bowl, then slowly whisk in 1/3 cup olive oil. Add 1 thinly sliced fennel bulb, 1 thinly sliced pear (if large) or 2 thinly sliced pears (if small). Season with salt and pepper and toss. You can top the salad with shaved Parmesan but this step is not absolutely necessary.

Editorial Note: You gotta love this goofy looking vegetable with its unique licorice taste. I believe some recipes use the stemmy looking parts as well as the fronds,  but for this recipe, simply use the bulbous part of the fennel.