Devoid Of Culture And Indifferent To The Arts

Dandelion Pesto Eggplant Parmigiana

2013-05-23T07:05:00.002-03:00

People think that I must be a very strange person. This is not correct. I have the heart of a small boy. It is in a glass jar on my desk. – Stephen King

The time has come to talk of strange foraging. Not so much for the eggplant, but the other star of this dish. Yes, you can make pesto out of dandelion greens.

Anyone can see the dandelions are up in full force, coming at us in battalions. With the weather supposedly rainy until Tuesday (you heard me right) they will be plentiful come the next sunny day. As I have said in the past, if you can’t defeat your enemies, eat them.

I have threatened to make this pesto before so I thought since the wild beasts are at my door the time had come. Just make sure you always harvest from an unpolluted spot. That's kind of key for any foraging, don't you think?

No, pesto isn't just basil

Pesto is usually made with basil, but many versions with some weird and wild greens are cropping up (pardon the pun). Some aren’t even green, for example sun-dried tomato pesto.

Now before we go down the road of "pesto's only ever basil" the history behind the word is that it is from the Italian pestare, the meaning of which is to pound or crush. So it’s more about the method of preparation than classic ingredients.

What makes basil pesto the classic is that basil has a wonderful, almost sharp taste when used in volume. It’s not at all like what you may think. That’s what to look for in substitutes – that sharpness. If you can find a suitable replacement you’re on your way.

I have made pesto from cilantro and kale in the past. The kale pesto was a little unexpectedly delicious, but it shouldn’t have been. Kale leaves are very strong flavoured.

The same is true of dandelion greens. They do not taste like dandelion stems (if you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to taste one); they taste sort of peppery.

Your task, if you accept it, is to go outside and find a clean dandelion leaf and eat a bit of it. You’ll then understand what I mean.

To the "Back 40"!

So off the the back yard I went, plastic bag in hand. I gathered a fair bunch rather quickly. Now is the time to harvest them since the leaves are still quite young. They grow stronger in flavour the older they get.

I have actually never gotten around to harvesting very young leaves before and I noticed something interesting. Each leaf had a dark red vein on the ridge. This made for a darker than usual coloured pesto when puréed. But each pesto other than basil does have its own distinct hue.

Making pesto is a breeze, and it’s fun. All you need is a food processor. From there it takes mere minutes.

If you’re venturing away from basil, your second consideration will be the nuts. Basil pesto uses pine nuts. Let’s all say it together: “They’re expensive!” I have used almonds, walnuts, and in this recipe cashews. I wanted the cashews for their richness.

We had a vegetarian friend from the city for the long weekend and it was up to me to prepare dinner for when she and my spouse arrived home. One of my favourite vegetarian dishes is eggplant parmigiana. I now have found a way to bump it up a notch.

The whole recipe itself is actually quite easy. If you can use a food processor, slice eggplant and open a jar of sauce you can make this dish.

All in all, if you’re looking for something that tastes great but is definitely out of the ordinary you’ve found it here. Also, the dandelion being free doesn’t hurt either.

Dandelion Pesto Eggplant Parmigiana

Prep: 30 min | Bake: 35 min | Serves 4

2 tbspolive oil

1 large eggplant

2 cups your favourite pasta sauce

linguine for 4

1 cup mozzarella

the pesto

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tbsp lemon peel

4-5 cups fresh dandelion greens, washed and chopped

1 cup unsalted cashews pieces

about 1/2 cup olive oil (see recipe)

1/2 cup grated parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

Slice the eggplant in 3/4” slices. Season with salt and pepper.

Fry the eggplant in batches in the 2 tbsp of olive oil until browned. It will soak up quite a lot so add more if necessary. Place in a 9x13 baking dish, in one layer.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

To make the pesto, place the garlic cloves, lemon peel and cashews in a food processor. Add the dandelion greens about a cup at a time, puréeing between additions.

Once all the dandelion greens have been added, slowly start to pour olive oil into the mixture while the motor is running. Use enough so the pesto moves smoothly in the bowl – but don’t make it a runny liquid. It needs to be slightly thick.

Add the grated parmesan and pulse to combine. Taste for salt and pepper and add as desired.

Place some pesto on top of each eggplant slice. You can freeze the remaining pesto, or refrigerate for 1 week. You will have leftover.

Then pour over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the top with the mozzarella and bake until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Serve on top of hot linguine, with grated parmesan at the table.

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Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sausage & Sage

2013-05-22T07:37:00.002-03:00

It is only through labour and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things. – Theodore Roosevelt

An amazing use of sweet potato.

Gnocchi always are a little laborious. Some thing are. I guess the real test is “is it worth it?”

I know President Roosevelt was referring to things far more serious than making food, but in the case of gnocchi the slight labour is well worth the “pain.”

After the potatoes are baked they need to be very well mashed.
Then mix in the egg, spices and some flour to a very
ragged dough.

Many people look at gnocchi that they have purchased (restaurant or grocery) and think they must be labour intensive. Those little ridges on their backs must take forever to do. (You roll them individually down the tines of a fork...)

Well, they are – if you do that step. Increasingly people are discovering that you don’t need those ridges to enjoy gnocchi. In fact, most people who make them at home skip that step altogether. Pillow gnocchi are probably quite common in country kitchens in Italy, although I can’t say for sure.

What I can say is this recipe makes a lot of gnocchi. You can easily make enough for two meals with this one batch. Once you get the hang of it they go along relatively quickly.

Homemade gnocchi screams comfort food. The rich cream sauce is nicely infused with fresh sage, and the mushrooms, sausage and gnocchi round it out to an extremely satisfying meal.

Sausage are not a necessity. Omit and you've got a vegetarian meal. They can also be simply tossed in a marinara or cream sauce as well, and they take to baking like a duck to water. Try them as a substitute for macaroni in cheese sauce too. Amazing.

The trick is to not make them too big, or the dough too stiff. That way they avoid becoming heavy and tough. Only add enough flour to make a dough that feels “pillowy.” There’s really no words to describe how gnocchi dough feels.

But you’ll understand when you make them. I’ve made gnocchi several times now and I have yet to screw them up.

Since the recipe is quite “descriptive” I’ll stop my blather and get down to the nut – or in this case – yam of it.

Roll each piece into a log and cut into "pillows.".

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sausage & Sage

For the gnocchi

Prep: 2 hours | Cook: 2-3 min, in batches | Serves at least 8

This recipe makes enough for two meals for 4 people, at least

2 lbs sweet potatoes

3 cups white flour (give or take)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the sauce

Prep: 5 min | Cook: 15 min | Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup sage, torn up

2 cloves garlic, minced

This is only part of the gnocchi this recipe makes.
You can freeze them without touching and then
bag and freeze.

250 g Crimini (or white) mushrooms

454 g (1 lb) Italian sausage

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

parmesan, for at the table

fresh warm dinner rolls, of desired

To make the gnocchi, bake the sweet potatoes at 350°F for about 1 to 1.5 hours. They will be very easy to pierce with a fork. Baking (as opposed to boiling) accomplishes two things: it doesn’t introduce any water into the potato flesh and it develops the sugars.

Let the potatoes cool slightly and then peel. In a bowl, mash the sweet potato well until there are no lumps at all. (Or as very best as you can.)

Once the mash has cooled slightly break an egg into the bowl. Add the salt and nutmeg. Mix in vigorously with a fork. Make sure the egg is well distributed.

This is where it gets “tricky” (but just a little).

You want to introduce only enough flour into the sweet potato to make a soft dough. Too little and they will disintegrate when cooked and too much will make them heavy. The amount of flour has everything to do with the wetness of your sweet potato mash.

The sauce is very simple and basic, but pairs perfectly
with the sweet potato.

Start with 1 cup of flour. Sprinkle it on top and mix in with a fork. Add more as needed until you have a very ragged dough. Sprinkle a board, or your counter, with flour and place the dough on it.

Begin to knead, adding more flour slowly, until you have a moist, light dough.

I find that sweet potato gnocchi are heavier than white potato gnocchi. Starchy potato mash starts off light and fluffy. Sweet potato mash not so much…

Divide the dough into six pieces and roll each out into about a 1” diameter by 16" long log. Cut “pillows” of gnocchi from each log. Place on a well floured board as you go. Repeat with the remaining dough. You will see you have made a lot of pillow gnocchi.

To cook the gnocchi, bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Drop several of the gnocchi in at a time. At first they will sink, but as they cook they will bob to the surface. Let them cook, once lifted from the bottom, for about 1 more minute.

Remove the gnocchi to a bowl. Repeat until you have cooked all the gnocchi you will need.

While the gnocchi are cooking, boil the sausages in water until done, about 5-6 minutes. Then slice into easy to eat sized pieces.

The sauce

To make the sausage and sage sauce, heat the oil in a large sauté or frying pan. Add the sage and garlic and let it cook for about 1 minute. Quarter the mushrooms and add to the pan. Let the mixture cook until the mushrooms wilt and/or begin to brown.

Add the sausage slices and mix well. Then add the cream, salt and pepper. Let the sauce simmer until the cream has reduced to your desired consistency.

At the last minute add in the gnocchi, toss to coat well. Let heat through and serve with grated parmesan on top.

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Homemade Chinese Sausage

2013-05-21T07:37:00.002-03:00

To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making. – Otto von Bismarck

Success.

Chinese sausage is a generic term referring to many different kinds of sausages originating in (you guessed it) China.

You can purchase dried Chinese sausage in most Asian groceries. The pork variety is one of my favourite. They have a unique taste.

Running across the street to the Asian grocery was one of the things I was going to miss the most about not living in the city. There are no “ethnic” markets – of any kind – on the South Shore. If you can’t get it at the bulk food store or grocery you’re out of luck.

So you have to plan trips to the Big City carefully. A trip for staples to Halifax means something entirely different than a trip to Bridgewater or Liverpool.

This is the meat ready to sit overnight in the fridge.

One of the things I wanted to do here was try to make these sausages at home. How hard can they be? Come to find out – not very, actually.

What one person can do in their kitchen half a world away can be replicated if you have the right ingredients – and the right equipment.

My new toy

I recently splurged on a sausage grinder/stuffer attachment for the KitchenAid. It was on sale 50% off at our local Canadian Tire.

Even though it was still pricey it was well worth the outlay. It has opened up a whole world of food to me. I would recommend it to anyone interested in making sausage who has a KitchenAid stand mixer.

A difficult to obtain deal-breaker ingredient could have been the casings. But luckily I found a local supplier. Natural hog casings were found in Bridgewater at Greek’s Butcher shop. They actually have several varieties. Whew...

What's in a name...

But the very first obstacle I had to overcome was to find out what the sausages were actually called. The packaging is almost entirely in Chinese, which I do not read. Luckily that wasn’t too hard of a job.

But then there was the task of finding a recipe that would replicate those that I love so much. Lap Chang, Run Chang, Xiang Chang... they’re all slightly different. Sometimes it's also spelled "Chong" or "Xiang," just to add confusion.

So this was a bit of a stab in the dark. At least I could rule out any recipe that called for liver. I’ve bought those inadvertently. Not to my taste, thank you.

I also ran into a bit of a snag in trying to figure out drying them. Unfortunately because of the massive amount of dust kicked up by the adjacent mill I certainly couldn’t risk hanging them to dry – even in our basement.

A little from Column A, a little from Column B

So I settled on a recipe cobbled together from a few sources that sounded like they would send me in the right direction, and were oven dried slowly for 5 hours. I was not steered wrong.

The only authentic thing I didn’t do was chop my sausage and fat by hand. Apparently in China it is common for the meat and fat to be diced small by hand. No thanks.

These sausages contain a lot of fat. Make no mistake. But if you want to try your hand at making Chinese sausages close to what you can buy this recipe is it.

I did make one “learning” mistake. I made them too plump. It wasn’t the end of the world, but next time I will use the thinner (breakfast sausage) stuffer tube. That way they will dry much more like those sausages you can buy.

We had three of these last night for supper with rice, egg and green onions. It was a revelation to bite into them and taste all those flavours – almost identical to ones I can only get by taking a trip to the city.

Since I have broken the fear barrier on sausage stuffing, I’m quite excited about making more. Merguez, you’re in my future. Maybe hot dogs too...

Homemade Lap Chang (Chinese Sausage)

Time: 1.5 days | Yield: 8 sausages, about 6” long each

Ready for drying.

1.5 lb pork shoulder

3/4 lb pork back fat

3 tbsp brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp dry sherry

3 tbsp whisky

1 tbsp Chinese Five Spice Powder

1 tbsp water

about 5’ sausage casings

Cube the pork and fat into 1” or slightly smaller cubes. Grind with the coarse setting of your meat grinder, or chop into 1/4” cubes (tedious work, one would assume).

Combine all of the ingredients, except the hog casings and mix well in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day stuff the meat into the casings per whatever directions your stuffer says. Twist into 8 links about 6” long.

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Arrange the sausages on a rack over a tray. Pierce both sides of each sausage a few times with a fork.

Bake the sausages for 5 hours. Let cool and then use in whatever recipe you wish.

They will keep dried and fresh for at least a week in the refrigerator, or a few months if frozen.

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“I’m out of BBQ Sauce” sauce

2013-05-20T06:53:00.002-03:00

If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered. – Edgar Allan Poe

This is 1/2 a recipe. I had 3 steaks to do.

We’ve all been there. It’s a holiday and the stores are closed – and we’re out of something critical.

With me, I always blame my lack of planning on being rushed, or busy, or frustrated by the hordes the day before. But I know it’s just me. Sometimes a person just forgets.

Well, if you find yourself in the situation where you either don’t have – or run out of – barbecue sauce, take comfort in the fact that you can easily whip up a more than passable substitute from a few kitchen staples.

It all starts with ketchup. We all have that and hardly ever seem to run out. All you do from there is add some "oomph" to it.

If it’s a holiday, one thing you’re almost certain to find hanging around is booze. That is key as well. It can be whisky (I had some left over from making sausages), rum, beer or even sherry. It takes some of the ketchup-y taste out and begins the transformation.

Just a few more simple ingredients and you’re on your way. It does benefit from sitting for a short while, because the spices "bloom." But if you’re pressed for time you can use it right away.

Another useful ingredient is liquid smoke. I’ve written about liquid smoke a few of times on this blog. It’s a great way to get smoky flavour quickly into sauces.

The final ingredient(s) is spice and herbs. Good barbecue sauce always has a bit of fire and herby taste.

All these things (or most of them) can be found in your cupboard. In fact, this tastes better than a lot of purchased barbecue sauces. It actually has some taste... and the benefit of as much "taste" as you want to add.

At pennies to make, perhaps forgetting to put barbecue sauce on your shopping list isn’t such a bad idea.

“I’m out of BBQ Sauce” sauce

Yield: enough for 4-6 steaks

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tbsp whisky

few drops liquid smoke (optional, to taste)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp fancy molasses

Mix together in a small bowl. Taste and adjust spices as you wish.

Let sit for 30 minutes. Then use as you would ordinarily.

Great for pork, chicken or fish.

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Victoria Bread

2013-05-19T07:11:00.002-03:00

In the end we're all Jerry Springer Show guests, really, we just haven't been on the show. – Marilyn Manson

A welcome sight for guests in the morning. Warm Bread. Bring on the butter!

This bread is named in honour of the long weekend, Queen Victoria and house guests.

We had a fantastic visit this weekend – a friend from Dartmouth and her dog. So I guess you could say that Henry had company this weekend too.

In the evening before bedtime.

Company is nice. We’re really glad that they came. We hadn't seen them since we moved from the city. What we’re not so glad about was the lack of cooperation from the weather. After what seems like a two-week stretch of really warm weather, well, yesterday sucked.

We were lucky if it got above 10°C all day. Couple that with the wind – cold wind – and it made for a not too glorious Saturday. Did I say the wind was cold...?

When the going gets tough...
The tough go shopping. We made the best of yesterday. We went plant shopping. We hit up the usual spots plus a new one – Indian Gardens in Hebbville. It is celebrating 150 years in operation. They have extensive-looking orchards. It’s quite a business. I'm amazed I had never been there before.

Besides the usual plants and hanging baskets they also had many fruit and veggie starters, and a produce store. We picked up several veggies to plant: eggplant, kale, pink and yellow tomatoes. All interesting, and hopefully they will grow well for us.

In the morning.

But back to the bread. If you’re going to get up and go out into the cold to windy garden centres you need something homey for breakfast. That’s where this recipe comes in.

I don’t know how often I’ve told you how easy it is to make bread. Many of my recipes remove two of the most “worrisome” aspects that make bread making a frightening activity for many novice cooks: proofing the yeast and kneading.

How easy is it?
Easy. You literally throw everything together in a bowl about 9pm, mix it and forget it until the next morning. A brief kneading and shaping and you’re ready to go.

I’m up early, usually at 6am, so my bread was out of the oven by 8am.

This loaf uses unbleached white flour and red fife flour. I’ve written about red fife before. It is a red tinged whole wheat that has direct ties to Canada’s early years. It was the wheat that went with the white settlers as they opened up the West during Victorian times.

After shaping and 45 minutes. Very responsive.

The red fife adds a little nutrition that is lacking in the processed white flour. It also adds an interesting colour. As soon as it's wet you instantly understand why its name has "red" in it.

This is very much a country-style loaf. Feel free to use any combination of flours. Just remember that low gluten flour won't have the rising ability of white. So if you're tolerant of wheat use at least 2 cups of white.

Memories are a web of tastes and smells. There’s really nothing that makes a guest’s visit more memorable than something delicious fresh from the oven. Especially at breakfast time.

If you like the idea of the aroma of baking bread filling your house on a long weekend morning you should try this recipe. It’s dead simple and really, really easy. The result speaks for itself.

Victoria Bread

Prep: overnight + 1 hour | Bake 35 min | Yield 1 loaf

3 cups unbleached white flour

1 cup red fife flour

1 tbsp yeast

1 tsp salt

2 cups warm (110°F) water

Mix together all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Knead briefly if you can (it will be very wet). Let sit, covered with plastic wrap and a towel, overnight.

In the morning, remove the bubbly dough to a slightly floured board. Knead for about a minute or two.

Shape the dough into an oblong by flattening it and then tucking it over itself. (Kind of like rolling a towel.) You should have a loaf about 10” long.

Place on a floured baking sheet, sprinkle the top generously with a little red fife, and let rise again for 45 min (until about doubled).

Preheat the oven to 425°F with a pan of water on the bottom rack.

Once the loaf has risen, slash the top with 3 diagonal lines about 1/2” deep. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the water and bake for an additional 25 minutes.

Remove the loaf and let cool slightly before cutting.

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Sweet & Spicy Green Relish

2013-05-18T07:58:00.003-03:00

A man is insensible to the relish of prosperity 'til he has tasted adversity. – Sa’Di

Ooooh, I relish a bit of relish sometimes.

My favourite combo for both burgers and hot dogs is onions, mayo and relish. Maybe cheese too, if I'm feeling adventurous... So having relish is a necessity for me.

I can’t remember when I was introduced to that combo, but it may have been when I was working at the local Fire Department Canteen. I loved tose days. Life seemed so much simpler. I suppose it did when you’re in your early teens.

Oh well, it’s best to live in the here and now, isn’t it. But ,oh my, I do relish (pardon the pun) those moments when the “feeling” of those past times washes over me. Sometimes it’s almost palpable, especially since I now live where I grew up. It makes me feel somehow comforted and safe. If only it was more often...

You have to strain – and then squeeze – as
much liquid out of the veggies as possible.

The word "relish" first appeared in printed English usage in 1798 and comes from the word "reles" which in Old French means "something remaining". The “remaining” vegetables at the end of their growing season were preserved for storage in the winter months by curing and pickling. Hence the name “relish.”

In English, relish is now a highly flavoured condiment which uses vinegar and sugar as preservative. Chutney, piccallilli and chow-chow all fall under the umbrella of “relishes.”

So here’s my relish, another of your staples to have on the picnic table. I have published ketchup, several mustards, barbecue sauces and homemade buns on this blog.

Relish is a bit of a wild card as different recipes have different tastes, just like mustard and ketchup. For me it has to be tart yet sweet, firm and green. If it fails on any of those counts it won’t stay in my fridge.

Homemade relish is notoriously pale. That is because most recipes require the cucumber to be peeled. The reason is that the peel is tough compared to the flesh. This recipe uses an English cucumber because I find them firmer than the usual local garden cucumbers which helps keep their shape after cooking.

If you wish, feel free to just wash the cucumber thoroughly and then chop with skin on. I didn't want to take the chance of tough skin so I peeled mine, and substituted 2 drops of green food colouring. It is very close to the colour of store bought relish. You can probably even fool the kids.

An important step to not leave out is the squeezing of the vegetables after they have been leached of their liquid with the salt. Be merciless. You’re taking as much water out as you can so the vinegar, sugar and spices will be absorbed back in while cooking.

Another important is simmering them long enough. 18-20 minutes will make it firmer when it sets up. There’s nothing worse than runny relish.

See how pale this is? Feel free to add food colouring.

Sweet & Spicy Green Relish

Time: about 2.5 hours, including draining the veggies

1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded

3/4 medium onion

1 rib of celery

1/2 large green pepper

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and white ribs removed

1-1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup white vinegar

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp pickling spice, ground

pinch cayenne

2 drops green food colouring (optional)

Use an English cucumber. They have fewer seeds and more flesh.

Cut all the vegetables into medium sized chunks. Place the celery and onion in a food processor and pulse until the desired size. Err on the small side since this is for relish, but use your common sense. You don’t want it puréed. Repeat with the peppers and then the cucumber.

Combine all the chopped vegetables in a non-reactive (glass or ceramic) bowl. Add the salt, toss well, and let sit for 2 hours. You can put a bowl or plate on top to help press out the liquid.

Place the mixture in a sieve to drain. Squeeze the mixture to extract as much liquid as possible. I removed over 1 cup from my vegetables. (See photo above.)

Bring the vinegar, sugar and pickling spice to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the vegetables and simmer for 18-20 minutes. Add the green food colouring if your vegetables are too pale for your liking. Two drops of green made the mixture very close in colour to store purchased relish.

Pour into a jar and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Let cool on the counter until the canning top pops down to prove your airtight seal.

Makes a scant 1 pint. The recipe can be scaled up to larger quantities.

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Classic Homemade Hot Dog Mustard

2013-05-17T07:22:00.000-03:00

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour. – Truman Capote

Feeling a bit yellow today. So I thought that this recipe just might fit the bill. It’s a summer staple and, like all condiments, are actually a breeze to make at home. It’s not even all that time consuming. I can (almost) promise no failure if you make it.

This is mustard powder. It's best to start with it rather than
grind your own. It's so much less work.

This is the classic yellow hot dog mustard that is ubiquitous burgers and hot dog cookouts throughout the summer. It’s not that “lurid” yellow like we find in stores, but it’s close. I have no idea how they get that colour, and I probably don’t want to know.

You can buy mustard powder quite inexpensively at either a bulk food store or even groceries. They have several kinds and you can tailor this recipe to your liking. Try some brown mustard flour, or throw in a little hot.

Mustard use has a very long history. Romans were most likely first off the mark to use it as a condiment as opposed to just a spice. They mixed “must” (unfermented grape juice) with ground mustard seeds to make what they called “mustum ardens,” or burning must. That’s where our term “must-ard” originates.

If you’ve ever made homemade mustard you’ll know that “burning” can be an apt description. You can make some really heady stuff.

A recipe for mustard appears in a 4th or 5th Century cookbook called Apicius, that was anonymously complied at that time. It is one of the most complete snapshots into the culinary life of the Romans. There are some very interesting recipes in that book. I have an abridged copy.

The spices.

From the Mediterranean, mustard seeds were probably taken to old Gaul (currently France). By the 10th Century monks were making their own mustards to accompany their meagre meals. Many of the famous French mustards owe their early origins to monasteries in towns around the countryside.

All the European countries have their own individual mustards, made not only from ground seeds but also cracked, or whole. Taste differences are accounted for in what is put with the seeds.

This site contains several mustard recipes including two Dijon, Oktoberfest, Cognac and beer thyme mustard, plus a few more.

On this side of the Atlantic, mustard as a condiment was first introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The product was French’s Mustard, by the R.T. French Company. It is arguably still the most common North American mustard for hotdogs and hamburgers to this day.

A version of this common hot dog/hamburger mustard is the recipe outlined below. Like all mustards, this one benefits from sitting for about one week, but it can be used immediately after cooling if required.

I don’t know if it’s because I made this or not, but I quite like it. I usually don’t like “plain” yellow mustard. It must be a self-sufficiency satisfaction thing. Whatever makes it taste so good, t this one’s certainly going to be made again for this summer.

Homemade Yellow Mustard

Prep: 2 min | Cook: 10 min | Purée: 2 min | Yield: about 2 cups

1 cup ground mustard (regular or hot)

1 cup water

3/4 cup white vinegar

1 tsp flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

1 tbsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients except for the cayenne and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Whisk until smooth and then bring to a boil. Regular mustard powder yields a mild mustard.

Once the mixture boils, reduce the heat to medium and let cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Taste for spiciness.

Pour the mustard into a food processor. Add as much cayenne as you feel you want (if any), and the lemon juice.

Purée for 2 minutes to mix well and smooth the mustard out even more.

If the mustard appears a little grainy don’t worry. Sitting in the refrigerator will help smooth it out even a little more. It will also thicken when cooled.

Place in jars and refrigerate.

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Ancient Grain Honey Spelt Bread

2013-05-15T07:27:00.000-03:00

Ancient Rome was as confident of the immutability of its world and the continual expansion and improvement of the human lot as we are today. – Arthur Erickson

Excellent sandwich loaf. Excellent anything loaf.

It’s a wonderful thing to have fresh bread on a regular basis. It makes sandwiches, breakfast or dinners just that much more special.

This was the dough 9pm.

It’s not all that difficult to pull off if you use the “overnight” technique that I do. It almost entirely eliminates kneading, and your bread is out of the oven in the morning before you’re even fully awake.

Now it’s pretty easy to make interesting bread too, thanks to bulk food stores like our local Bulk Barn. Not that long ago to buy specialty “ancient” grains you had to purchase expensive packets at health food stores. Now you can just drop by and purchase exactly the amount you need.

Spelt is one that is widely available now. Spelt is an ancient grain that has a nut-like flavour and a dark(ish) colour. It is a cousin of wheat and traces its heritage back 6,000 years, well before our common wheat hybrids.

Benefits of spelt

This was the dough 6am.

Much of the health benefits associated with spelt are due to the broad spectrum of nutrients that have been bred out of modern wheat. Interestingly, spelt doesn’t seem to cause as much in the way of sensitivity as modern wheat.

It’s mostly due to the type of gluten in spelt – it’s water soluble, degraded by heat and is easily broken down by mixing. Wheat gluten does not break down in water and only relaxes when exposed to heat and seems to get stronger as it is mixed. Bakers refer to kneading as “developing the gluten.”

Since the gluten is water soluble it make the grain more easy to digest and therefore the nutrients in wheat more available to the body. That’s not the only difference. Spelt is high in protein (much higher than wheat), higher in B complex vitamins, and is high in both simple and complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates aid in blod clotting and help boost the body’s immune system.

Generously grease that pan.

But for best results...

Now this difference in gluten does have a drawback for those of us who love our fluffy bread. All spelt makes for a lower rise bread. So in my recipe I did a 50/50 with unbleached white wheat.

At least it’s not all white. This bread actually surprised me. The colour is somewhere between a brown bread and white, even though no colouring (other than the spelt) was used.

This made for an amazing looking loaf. Don’t worry if the crust seems very hard after baking. It will soften up as the bread cools, if you can wait that long.

The taste is quite amazing, too. It is fantastic warm with butter, and made one dandy Westphalian ham and Swiss cheese sandwich for lunch. Mmmm.

It will rise in 1 hour to fill the pan.

Honey Spelt Bread

Prep: Overnight + 1 hour | Bake: 30 min | Yield 1 loaf

1-1/2 cups spelt flour

1-1/2 cups unbleached white flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp honey

3 tsp yeast

1-1/2 cups warm water

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and beat with a spoon for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be very, very wet and sticky. Make sure that all the flour is incorporated.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Let rise overnight.

In the morning, pour the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Lightly flour your hands and knead for about 2 minutes. The dough will still be sticky.

Generously butter a 5” x 9” bread pan. Place the dough in the pan and let rise for 1 hour. Don't worry if it looks like only a little dough. It will fill the pan on second rise.

Preheat the oven to 450°F, with a pan of water in the bottom to hydrate the oven.

Bake the loaf for 30 minutes, removing the pan of water after the first 10 minutes.

Let cool on a rack. The crust will soften as it cools.

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Weekend Three Bean Salad

2013-05-14T06:30:00.000-03:00

Beans are neither fruit nor musical. – Nancy Cartwright

Delicious, crisp and colourful.

I’m preempting today’s scheduled broadcast to bring you this timely recipe. I was going to post Tuscan Chicken, but that will just have to wait.

Instead, I’m bringing back a favourite. I believe I am going to start a tradition of reposting this recipe every year. The warmer weather brings out the barbecues and this is perfect for with steak, chicken, hot dogs or hamburgers. It is hands-down THE best three bean salad I have ever had.

I dislike most three bean salads. When you buy it at the store you get a usually soggy, vinegary, sugary mess. Who would like that?

This ain’t no store-bought three bean. Make lots of it. It will keep in jars for a while, like a week or two. But you won’t have to worry. You’ll be amazed at how fast it disappears.

Use fresh green beans. Photo: zoyachubby, Flickr ccl

Bean salad is a common backyard or picnic dish that – oddly enough – is composed mainly of various beans. It is almost always served in a sweet vinegar marinade. What the particular beans used are—or the number (three, four, five…)—is up to the cook.

The trick with a bean salad is to make it colourful, and fresh. If you want to go to the trouble, you can pick and shell beans. Just remember any fresh veggies should be blanched before adding. It helps the vinaigrette to be absorbed.

Use canned chickpeas and kidney beans. It’s just so much easier and faster. But don’t use canned green beans – blanch fresh ones. You won’t be happy with the result. Yuck… If using dried chickpeas or beans they would have to be soaked and boiled, of course.

Blanching is boiling vegetables in salted water for a few minutes. It partially cooks them but they are still crisp. It also helps them retain their fresh-picked colour. Vegetables are routinely blanched before being frozen.

Keep that in the back of your mind to preserve from this coming harvest season. That’s a bit of news I’ll have to remember when our garden grows...

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans). Photo: Mink, Flickr ccl

Pretty much any bean, or other legume, can be used in this type of salad. The decision is mostly based on how much eye-appeal you want in the end result.

Most bean salads call for chickpeas (garbanzos), kidney beans and fresh green beans. That way you have white, red and green (the Italian flag, although I don’t think there’s supposed to be any connection). In my recipe I also added orange in the form of carrots. Radishes, green onions, yellow beans are all potential contenders for inclusion.

I have read that bean salad has been a common picnic staple since the 1800s (on Wikipedia) but I can’t find any independent verification. Since picnicking became popular during the Victorian Age I have no real reason to dispute it.

Bean salad gained popularity on this side of the big pond in the 1950s-60s with the advent of the suburban expansive backyard and barbecue entertaining. That was when dad cooked the meat and mom did pretty much everything else… Anyone remember that?

Bean salad is an excellent dish to serve if you have vegetarian friends. The beans are full of dietary fibre, protein, and contain several essential vitamins and minerals. So except for the sugar it’s not a bad thing. It can serve as a main dish for those so inclined.

Three bean salad usually seems to go a long way. The amounts in the recipe would supposedly serve eight folks as a side dish. I have a funny feeling that it’s not the case with this recipe.

This is good. Really good.

This is supposed to be enough salad for 8.
Yeah.. right.

Three Bean Salad

Prep: 15 min | Marinate: 2-24 hours | Serves 8-12

19oz (540 ml) can chick peas

19 oz can (540 ml) can red kidney beans

3/4 lb green beans

1 medium carrot, julienned

1 rib celery, diced

1 small onion, sliced and chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

salt to taste (see recipe)

Rinse the chick peas and kidney beans under water until the water runs clear. Place in a bowl that will hold all the assembled ingredients.

Stem the green beans and cut into thirds or quarters. Peel and cut the carrot into matchsticks about 2” long. Rinse both well and blanch in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and add to the bowl.

Add the celery, onion and garlic to the bowl and toss well to combine.

In a small bowl combine the vinegar, honey, cayenne and black pepper. Pour over the vegetables and toss. Do not add salt at this time. (Sometimes the kidney beans and chickpeas are already salty.)

Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or for a whole day.

Just before serving, taste for salt and add if desired.

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On the Grill Sweet ‘n Smoky Barbecue Sauce

2013-05-13T07:28:00.001-03:00

Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs. – William Shakespeare

This is one good barbecue sauce.

It wasn’t very pleasant yesterday here in Nova Scotia but the weather is warm now and summer is on its way. It may (or may not) be sunny this weekend, but we may as well prepare. That means making your own mustards (search this blog), ketchup, relish and barbecue sauce.

Photo: Wiki CC

There’s one recipe I’ll be making and posting here in the near future, chipotle ketchup, but this barbecue sauce will have to do for now. It keeps in the refrigerator for weeks if well sealed.

Making your own barbecue sauce can be a tricky business. It needs to be thick so it doesn’t get watery, and flavourful. That’s one thing I find lacking in many of the store-bought sauces – good flavour.

But there’s always been a taste that I wanted to incorporate but just couldn’t seem to. That flavour? Smoke.

It’s the quintessential taste of barbecue – that deep, sort of sweet flavour that permeates your barbecued goodies and makes them so delicious. To incorporate that flavour you usually have to actually use wood chips to smoulder on your coals.

There is another way, and until recently I thought it had to be a chemical cocktail. But I was wrong – it's pretty much as natural as “smoking” with wood chips. The whole process of barbecuing is sort of carcinogenic so why let a little more bother you?

Liquid smoke

The secret is “liquid smoke.” Liquid smoke…even the name sounds like something very artificial. That’s a misnomer, because it consists of only two ingredients. It is made by smoke being passed through water.

This product is cited in a document released by the World Health Organization. They state “Their [liquid smokes'] use reduces contamination by carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and enables the intensity of the flavour in the final product to be accurately controlled.” http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_576.pdf, page 12. (There's more about it on page 15.)

There are many different types of liquid smoke, depending on the wood used to make it. I used hickory, the same as the picture above, but my brand was different.

Liquid smoke certainly adds smoky flavour to whatever it is used in, without the necessity of wood chips. Now there will be purists that will say there's no substitute for the real thing, but in blind taste tests many people couldn’t tell the difference.

This is what the sauce looks like at the start of simmering.

Liquid smoke sounds like something out of a bad 1950s lab, but it actually has been in existence for over 110 years. It all started with a man called Ernest H. Wright who began bottling and selling a product called “condensed smoke” way back in 1895.

Condensed smoke may well be a better term for this ingredient because his inspiration of the product was water he saw condensing on the wood stove pipe in a print shop where he worked. Not a very appetizing-sounding start, but it's the genesis none the less.

His company grew to become a national USA brand, and in 1997 Wright’s Liquid Smoke was purchased by B&G Foods. They continue its manufacture to this day. Other brands in B&G’s stable include Emeril’s, Mrs. Dash, Sugar Twin and Cream of Wheat.

This barbecue sauce is a “must have” and I say that with no puffed-up sense of pride. It’s very simple, deep tasting and delicious.

To me this tastes like what I believe barbecue sauce should be. It doesn’t even need a barbecue to have that outdoor flavour. Broiling works every bit as well.

The recipe makes about 1-1/2 cups, so for your one hour investment in time you will have enough barbecue sauce to thrill a crowd, or last for a good portion of the season if you’re not a hardcore barbecuer.

For a great accompaniment look here. It's a three bean salad that even people who usually dislike it can get enough of.

This is a good little sauce. I cant wait to try it on tofu for
a vegetarian friend of ours. I have a mean three bean salad
that would go perfectly with this. Do a blog search.

Sweet ‘n Smoky Barbecue Sauce

Prep: 10 min | Cook 45 min | Yield: 1.5 cups

1 tbsp oil

3/4 cup onions, chopped

1 tbsp liquid smoke

1/2 cup honey

3/4 cup ketchup

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp dried mustard

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan. Saute the onion until slightly browned.

Add the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and then let simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid it sticking. The sauce will become very thick and darken in colour considerably.

Place in a jar and refrigerate. It will thicken further as it cools.

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The Small Veggie Garden

2013-05-12T09:02:00.000-03:00

Do we not realize that self respect comes with self reliance? – Abdul Kalam

Small but sufficient.

It rained last night. That was a very good thing. We were hoping for it. We planted our small garden patch with vegetables yesterday. So the rain certainly came at a good time.

We used birch poles for fencing.

This was part of the plan of moving to the country. We wanted to drastically cut costs (we no longer have a $1200+ mortgage, $3700 property taxes, water bill, a large draughty house to heat, etc.) and become somewhat more self reliant with regard to our food stream.

I heard my father’s voice in my ear the whole time we were doing it. He would have been proud, I think. He also would have been telling me we were doing some things “wrong.” Or at least not the way he would have.

Dad used to plant a garden about 60’ x 80’ every year. It helped feed us and many of the “cabin people” who summer around the lake. His garden had a real social aspect for him.

Cheek by jowl at 20'x14'

Ours is considerably smaller at about 20’ x 14”. In it we have jammed so much seed... peas, beans, carrots (orange and purple), radishes, cucumbers, Swiss chard, mesclun greens, squash, cucumbers, onions and corn. Oh, and a few tomato sets. I don't think I forgot anything.

One of our pair of pears.

In the same area we have 2 young pear trees, an apricot, a jostaberry, black currant and gooseberry. They're all small so won't interfere with anything else this year.

We have beans and peas in large cast iron urns as well, plus I'm going to be growing fresh herbs in another. Hopefully with more success than in the past. At least they'll have much more sun than when we were city folk.

The garden is thick, to say the least. There’s only two of us so if even half the seed grows we’ll have quite a lot on our hands. We may even have to give some away.

The main benefit of a small garden is that it’s... small. It’s easy to tend, weed and harvest. I remember groaning the times I had to help weed dad’s garden. I didn’t help nearly as much as I should have. I regret that now that I'm grown up.

A drawback of a thickly planted garden is that the soil will become depleted of nutrients far more quickly. So we’ll have to remember to fertilize part way through the season. We also have to get some straw for between the rows to keep down weeds. It will stay through the winter and be turned into the soil to help enrich it for next year.

I think we did pretty well. The area we used was once covered by a very large Rosa Multiflora. They’re akin to a weed. The thing had grown to monstrous size. Interestingly, when my spouse cut it out the ground underneath was completely bare. No sod to remove.

The black currant will fruit this year.
It came from Spencer's in Shelburne.

No wonder the rose was so big. The soil seemed to be some of the best in the whole yard. Nice and chocolately brown, crumbly with a lot of organic matter. The soil seemed “friable.” That means that it has a crumbly texture that can hold moisture and allow deep root growth. The sun is on the plot almost the whole day as well.

We prepared the bed with shovels – no tiller. We went down about 10” deep so everything should have a nice loose soil for optimal growth. We also added organic matter and manure.

We did have to remove the extremely large and crawling roots leftover from the previous plot occupant, the rose. That took some doing. We worked from 9:30am to about 2pm. That took us from unturned soil to neatly planted rows. It also included putting up birch stakes as a bit of deer deterrent.

Time will tell if we can actually taste the fruits of our labour, but I do have to admit I had fun.

I’m a bit sore today, not being used to much in the way of outdoor labour. That will be a benefit of gardening too. Out of necessity we will have to be outside in the sun.

There is more to come. I want Roma tomatoes and we have one row that has nothing in it yet. Who knows what will go there. Come late summer I’ll be canning and preserving for days – hopefully.

The garden looks good. There was a real sense of pride when we were done. That was an unexpected benefit. Tending it as it grows should be equally as rewarding – hopefully kind of a vegetable soup for the soul.

Carrots, purple and orange, and beets.

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Vegetable Growing 1954

2013-05-11T07:39:00.001-03:00

The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them. – Paul Hawken

We’re going to be putting a little seed to ground today here in hell’s half acre. I though it was more than coincidental that we found an interesting publication at the little house that was meant to inform about all particulars on doing just that.

Its title is Vegetable Growing. It was published in 1954 by the Canadian Department of Agriculture, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. I have no idea why it was here at this house. There was never a garden here. My maiden aunts were too elderly when they built it to be able to do anything like it advocates. Maybe it appeared to give us hope.

The publication lists at least 30 different vegetables with tips on how to grow and tend for maximum yield. There are also chapters on soils, manuring, hotbeds for starting seeds, transplanting, succession of crops (so you have continuous yield), recommended varieties and even canning.

Click on the pics for larger versions.

I have reproduced a portion of the introduction, broken up for online readability. It was one long paragraph. Take notice about how different our food supply chain is now. No longer does every house with a little land or small farm have a vegetable garden; there are no vegetable gardens outside every larger city or town. Our “sufficient land” is now covered in McHomes, all slapped up quickly and sold as luxury residences, fanning wide outside our city cores.

Where does our food come from now? I currently have a squash on my counter – that was grown in Cuba. That says it all.

We should all try to grow a little of our own food, even if it’s a patio garden with tomatoes, herbs and something vertical like beans. Every little bit helps – the environment, our health and our wallets. It is most likely the key to our common future.

Also, don’t forget those farmers marketers. The brave souls who still make a living by putting tiller to soil are the descendants of the folks this pamphlet was directed at. They still know that our food production has to be local, and sustainable. By supporting them, you support us all.

Introduction

Since vegetables are grown far more extensively than the average person realizes, it would be as well (sic) to show the various branches into which production falls.

In the first instance the home garden is one of the most talked of each spring and through summer. Almost every farm has a plot where fresh vegetables are grown for immediate use and in every village, town and city where there is sufficient land attached to the home, gardens of varying size are to be found.

These home gardens, both rural and urban, produce a very considerable amount of the nation’s cheap but wholesome, high value food, but unfortunately it is impossible to get a correct estimate of this production or of its dollar value to this country. The value of this production can hardly be placed too high.

During the years of food scarcity or depression, large areas around towns and cities are devoted to vegetable gardens. Phenomenal yields are often obtained and large portions of the population provided with wholesome food.

The second branch of the vegetable industry, market gardening, is a very important enterprise usually found in the vicinity of each large town or city.

Now our arable land is covered in sprawl. Those areas that were meant to feed us are no longer available.

So what do we get? Squash from Cuba. There's a cautionary tale here, is there not?

Is our corn genetically modified? This is a photo of a "typical" corn. 8 rows.

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Spicy Coconut Jerk Chicken

2013-05-10T06:55:00.002-03:00

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself. – William Shakespeare

Here’s another recipe I’ve been sitting on for a little while because the weather’s been so good. Yesterday I posted about homemade hot dog buns, and sporadically I’ve been posting about plants and gardening.

For any of you who think I’m not eating, fear not. I am.

This one’s actually kind of interesting. You make a marinade, which is then used to make both a sauce as well as flavour rice for a side dish.

It sounds like quite a useful marinade, doesn’t it?

This jerk has all the usual Caribbean suspects, such as garlic, sugar, thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Did you know the French name for allspice is Piment de la Jamaïque (Jamaican spice)?

But I chickened out (pardon the pun) on one ingredient: Scotch Bonnet peppers. They're very common in Jerk chicken. They are also peppers to treat with respect. They are very, very hot.

Peppers are rated by units of spicy heat called Scoville Units. Here’s a short breakdown of some common peppers SU ratings.

Scotch bonnet peppers. Photo: Wiki CC

Scoville Units, common grocery peppers

Bell pepper, cubanelle – 0

Anaheim, poblano – 1,000 to 2,500

Jalapeno, chipotle – 3,500 to 8,000

Serrano – 10,000 to 23,000

Cayenne, tabasco – 30,000 to 50,000

Thai chilli pepper (bird’s eye) – 50,000 to 100,000

Scotch bonnet, habanero – 100,000 to 350,000

The “Ghost” pepper (bhut jolokia) – 855,000 to 1.47 million

Most law enforcement pepper sprays – 1.5 million to 2 million

(Source Wikipedia)

I have had experience with scotch bonnet peppers in the past. I was making something (I can't remember what) and it called for sautéing scotch bonnet. They drove me out of the kitchen. Literally. Coughing and eyes watering.

So I’m a little leery of them.

If you are like me (white bread) you can substitute some peppers that have less heat. In my case jalapenos and some hot sauce.

jerk is supposed to be hot. If it isn’t, it isn’t jerk sauce. But if you’re worried about excessive spiciness you may want to do what I did.

And for goodness sakes if you use a scotch bonnet pepper DO NOT touch your eyes – or other delicate parts – after you cut it up. At least not until you have washed your hands a few times...

If you get the right balance of heat and other island flavours you will have a real Caribbean delight on your hands. It will be a recipe you keep coming back to, for certain.

Coconut Jerk Chicken

Prep: 2 hours | Cook: 30-40 min | Serves 4

8 chicken thighs

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion

2 jalapeno peppers (or, if brave, 1 scotch bonnet)

4 cloves garlic

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp fresh ginger

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground allspice (or 1-1/2 tsp whole)

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp clove

2 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

optional: 1/2-1 tsp hot sauce

1 cup rice

1/2 tsp curry

pinch of salt

2 cups water

398 ml can coconut milk (Rooster Brand Gold)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Place the chicken in a non-reactive (glass or ceramic) dish or a plastic bag.

Purée the next 16 ingredients in a food processor until fairly smooth. Pour the marinade over the chicken and let marinate for 2 hours on the counter.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the chicken and reserve the remaining marinade.

Arrange the chicken on a broiler tray. Make sure some of the marinade stays on the chicken. Bake for 30-40 minutes turning half way through, until the chicken reaches 180°F internal temperature when read with a meat thermometer.

Place 2 tablespoons of the marinade in a small stock pot and cook it until dry. Add the rice, curry, salt and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Then let sit off the heat for 5 minutes.

Sauté the remaining marinade in a saucepan until dry and cooked through. Add the coconut milk and let cook until thickened to a sauce that coats the back of a spoon. Add the cilantro a minute before the sauce is finished. Taste for salt and adjust.

If you wish, purée the sauce to make it smoother.

Serve the sauce on top of the chicken, with the rice on the side. Sprinkle a little more cilantro on top if desired.

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Homemade Hot Dog Buns

2013-05-09T07:16:00.001-03:00

My first outdoor cooking memories are full of erratic British summers, Dad swearing at a barbecue that he couldn't put together, and eventually eating charred sausages, feeling brilliant. – Jamie Oliver

Eight fluffy, flavourful hot dog (or sausage) buns.

This recipe is a repeat from last year, but it’s such an important thing to know how to do – now that the weather has finally warmed up.

After overnight and a brief kneading.

Have you ever made your own hot dog or hamburger buns? Since the weather has well and truly turned, I thought now would be the perfect time to show you how.

If you’re planning on having barbecues (and really, who isn’t?) why not try them? They’re so much better than what you purchase there’s really no comparison. Seriously.

These buns are a bit of work, or to be clearer, take some time. They rise three times. First overnight (so you’re sleeping), second through the day (so you’re outside enjoying yourself), and then a quick one just before popping into the oven.

So you can see, they may take time, but they’re really not a whole lot of labour. They’re so good in fact that perhaps you would really consider doubling this recipe. They won’t go to waste, and that cuts the per roll “work” in half for your yield.

Ready to be shaped after rise #2.

You will get compliments on your hot dog buns. These are really good.

The first overnight raise is what is called a pre-ferment or starter. This not only adds more flavour and better structure to the rolls, but also helps them stay fresh longer. It’s an old way of beginning bread and is common in artisanal breads.

These rolls came out really very nicely. They were soft and had a delicious home-baked aroma from the starter. During baking they increased in size by at least 400% from when they were initially shaped.

Of course, bread is bread, and just because these are shaped into cylinders doesn’t mean you can’t shape them into rounds for hamburger buns. Just make sure you make them quite flat, because they will rise, and rise, and rise...

If you have the time, you should try this recipe. It’s dangerous, though. Once tasted, your family won’t settle for anything less!

Hot Dog / Hamburger Buns

Overnight starter

Time: 8 hours

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 tsp yeast

Let rise 8 hours (overnight)

Remainder

Raise: 6 hours

1 tsp yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 tsp sugar

1/4 cup melted margarine

2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 egg

Mix the milk, flour and yeast together in a bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, place in a warm spot and let rise overnight.

The next day, proof the next tsp of yeast in the warm water and sugar. The water must be between 110° and 115°F. Any warmer will kill the yeast.

Combine the proofed yeast and water with the remaining ingredients, including all of the starter dough. Begin by using 2-1/2 cup of the flour. Only add more if absolutely necessary. The dough will be quite damp feeling, very soft and somewhat sticky.

Place in a bowl and let rise for 6 more hours.

Punch the dough down. Put the dough on a lightly floured board and divide into 8 equal pieces.

For Hamburger Buns: Shape into balls, and place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten out a lot with your fingers so they don’t bake as round balls. The buns can touch. Cover, let rise for 45 minutes.

For Hot Dog Buns: Shape each piece into a 6x4 inch rectangle. Starting with the longer side, roll up tightly, and place seam-side down in a 9x13 pan (in 2 rows of four). Let rise 45 minutes.

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and rub the tops with margarine while still warm.

My favourite toppings – onions, mayo and relish.

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Planting a small vegetable patch

2013-05-08T08:02:00.006-03:00

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. – Doug Larson

I would show you a picture of our garden but it's still under construction.
Photo: Rrrodrigo, Flickr ccl

Part of our new life is growing some of our own food. We’re only doing a small patch, plus some raised beds, but time is becoming of the essence if we literally want to reap the benefits.

It is now the first full week of May and I’m probably running a bit behind on the whole thing. But I think now is the time to find out any missteps I may take.

I remember when I was young my father and uncles used to have friendly rivalry about how soon one of them could have peas. Sometimes they would plant in April!

This is my first year planting for a summer/fall harvest and I want to do it right – or as right as I can. This April was colder so I ruled that out. But now we’re into good weather.

There are some “dos and don’ts” regarding plants in a small (or any) vegetable garden if you want optimal performance. Some plants just don’t like being next to others while others prefer companions.

Here’s a few from both sides of the scale for some common veggies. I only have a small patch to cultivate and need to take care. Any help I can get is of benefit.

All seeds and many plants have a “days to harvest” written on them somewhere. Pay attention. It’s is nonsensical to plant something late that will be killed by frost before it matures.

Personally I find starter plants more advantageous. You have a head start. Just make sure late frosts don’t cause you to waste your money.

Beets do better planted next to garlic. It improves their flavour.

Beans do not like being next to onions or garlic. They stunt growth. They do better next to carrots, eggplant, cucumbers, corn, lettuce, peas and radishes.

Carrots will sit comfortably planted next to tomatoes. They also like to be planted next to leeks. Both deter pests associated with the other.

But corn should not be placed by tomatoes. They are attacked by the same worm so if one gets infected you probably will lose both.

Cucumbers shouldn’t be grown next to any kind of aromatic herbs, sage in particular.

Peas should be grown away from garlic and onions, but are OK with turnips nearby. Once again, onions stunt growth. Maybe it’s a “legume” thing...

Keep lettuce away from broccoli, but peas, potatoes and spinach are OK. Chives and garlic actually help keep aphids away that will eat your lettuce.

Potatoes should be kept separate from tomato plants. They are susceptible to the same blight so if one gets it...

Tomatoes like growing next to basil. It improves their flavour, growth and deters flies. Funny that they go so well together in the pot too. They also like bee balm, chives and mint.

Tomatoes shouldn’t be planted next to corn, dill or potatoes. Dill retards growth while the other two have pests in common with tomatoes.

Interestingly, marigolds seem to deter pests for many plants. They deter me too. I think they stink. Of course, check further into their benefit. I have not outlined it here.

This list is just scratching the surface, but you can see how some vegetables you would never think would affect each other can do some real damage to your overall yield come harvest.

Another concern for me will be deer. There’s many schools of thought on deterrence. Some involve bodily fluids, hair clippings, dog patrol, etc. There is also some writing about pungent herbs.

From what I know of deer, it will require something more than a row of chives to keep them out. We’ll see. We’re trying a couple already. I won’t tell you which.

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Easy Caribbean Beef Stew

2013-05-07T08:24:00.000-03:00

I'm always excited by the unlikely, never by ordinary things. – David Hockney

It’s now 8:30am and I am already running late. I have a few things I need to do and a few things I want to do today. Hopefully it will all work out. Some of them may seem unlikely to happen, but with some judicious planning I'll get it all done.

At least it looks like the weather will cooperate. By cooperate I mean will not lure me outside. Right now it’s overcast and you can feel moisture in the air.

I believe there’s light rain in the southern-most parts of the province. So much for the “no rain all week” forecast. Oh well. It’s better than yesterday. It was so nice it was hard to stay inside at the computer. Really hard.

Just another ordinary day in the country, I hope. It's those busy days when you need a recipe that's simple. Today’s recipe is an ordinary stew, if you can call tropical flavours ordinary.

I try to avoid the ordinary when at all possible. And with a few simple pantry ingredients you can pull this off easily.

Just before the final 15 minutes.

If you can make beef stew you can make this. The only difference is in swapping out ingredients. Potatoes get replaced by sweet potato; water by coconut milk. And a plantain is added for a fun ingredient.

The rest is pretty much kitchen staples – tomatoes, peppers, spices, etc. Even though there’s nothing truly “exotic” in this, it’s far from ordinary. The result is a hearty meal with interesting Caribbean flavours.

This went together very quickly and then just did its thing on the stove. It’s a perfect kind of meal to have on a busy evening or weekend when you don’t want to spend a lot of time tending a pot.

Caribbean Beef Stew

Prep: 15 min | Cook: 40 min | Serves 6

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 lbs beef, cubed

2 medium onions

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, diced

5 firm tomatoes, like Roma

After the final 15 minutes. The sweet potatoes and
plantain breaks down slightly and thicken the sauce.

1 lg sweet potato, peeled and chopped

398 ml can coconut milk

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

6 whole cloves

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1 whole lime, quartered

1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

1 lg plantain, peeled and sliced (or 2 small)

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot with a lid. Brown the beef, in batches if necessary, and then remove to a plate.

Add the onions, garlic and jalapenos. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Then add the beef back in, the chopped tomatoes, sweet potato, coconut milk, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, thyme, bay leaves and lime. Season with salt and lots of pepper.

Cover, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Let cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then add the green pepper, plantain slices and 3/4 cup of the chopped cilantro. Cook for another 15 minutes with the lid slightly ajar.

Remove the lime and bay leaves. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.

Serve over white rice with the remaining cilantro sprinkled on top.

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Where to go: Spencer’s Garden Centre

2013-05-06T07:34:00.001-03:00

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. – Galileo Galilei

12' Chinese Silver Grass. Photo: Wiki CC

Chinese Silver Grass

Anise Hyssop

Dwarf Cherry "Juliet"

Erianthus

Dicentra “Gold Heart”

Gentiana Cruciata

Corydalis Blue

Dioicus “Goat’s Beard”

What do all of these plants have in common, other than ending up in the back of our truck yesterday? Well, two things actually, many are not common and they’re all available at Shelburne’s Spencer’s Garden Centre.

A few days ago I posted wondering where I could find a rare Dicentra (Bleeding Heart Gold Heart). A friend helpfully suggested Spencer’s. Actually she did more than that – she stopped and looked, and then found out for us when they would be open.

Shelburne may not be on everyone’s list of where to go for plants, but if you check them out online you may change your mind.

I live in the South Shore and it’s still one hour’s drive. So if you’re coming from Halifax area you’re in for 2 hours both directions. Just go along the 103 Highway and take a left at Exit 26. You can’t miss it.

Yesterday was a perfect day for a drive.

We had one of these in the city too – corydalis. Photo: Wiki CC

The first two things we saw when we parked was what we think is a "cinnamon" birch (very unusual) and two extremely large Hellebores. Inside the specialness continued. Too much to remember, but one that stuck was the wild ginger. I should have bought it.

A couple more oddities – catalpa and golden rain trees – are on their site. I have written about both of those in previous posts.

A few prices are more than what you would pay elsewhere (but often they are larger plants), but many are at par or lower. If you can even get them elsewhere.

They have many fruit and vegetable plants too. We picked up a very large black currant for $19.99. It's already set to bloom.

Their website is http://www.novascotiagardening.com/index.php

If you hunt around you’ll see what makes this place so special. They have many unusual plants that are not commonly available at your standard plant centres. If you want something cheap and cheerful to last a season go to WalMart. If you're serious about your gardening, go to Spencer's.

Goat's beard. Photo: Wiki CC.

I do have to say there seems to be far more on their website than was in their yard, but I believe they just opened. So if you’re making the journey for something in particular perhaps you should call ahead, just to be sure.

Or take a chance – and a nice drive – that you’ll find something worth the trip. I bet you will.

They’re definitely on my list. Of course, now we have gardening to do...

Spencer’s Garden Centre

5 Ohio Road, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, B0T 1W0

Tel: 1-877-870-3055 | 902-875-3055 | Fax: 902-875-3023

info@novascotiagardening.com

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We’ll soon be foraging!

2013-05-04T06:56:00.001-03:00

The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable. – James A. Garfield

I can't wait... Fiddleheads and butter poached salmon.

Some time this weekend I’m going to take my first tentative steps into the wilderness. It’s been a long sleepy winter and this old bear has finally roused and gone in search of food.

Photo: Per jensen, Flickr ccl

Oh wait – I’m not a bear... I just growl quite a bit. But I still need food, and the time is soon upon us where we can start to get some free stuff from Mother Nature’s cupboard.

Yesterday my spouse did our first lawn mowing of 2013 at our place. Today I will do the same for my mother, so things are definitely growing. It has begun.

There’s two early spring foods that are available now, or soon will be in Nova Scotia. One is the dastardly dandelion, the other is fiddleheads.

Regarding dandelions, I am of the school that believes if you can’t defeat your enemies you should eat them. Seriously. Dandelion greens are really good. Yes – the ones that grow out of your lawn.

Photo courtesy New Brunswick Tourism

I have often looked at the ones in grocery stores and wondered what the heck they are. They bear slight resemblance to our golden-headed “friend” and I have never bought them. I’m sure they’re someone’s dandelions. but not the common one in Nova Scotia.

When I’m mowing today I will be checking progress.

The other forageable (is that even a word?) soon to break ground will be fiddleheads. The ones you get in the store, if you don’t happen to have a fen nearby, are exactly what grows wild.

They mostly come from New Brunswick, but can be found everywhere in Nova Scotia if you care to look.

Fiddleheads, also known as ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris), grow wild in wet areas of northeast North America in spring.

The Mi’kmaq and Maliseet natives considered fiddleheads to be medicinal as well as a food. They were an early season staple for them after the long, bleak winter.

When you buy fiddleheads they are bright green. When foraging they are covered in a brown fuzz that has to be removed before eating. I have read the best way to do that is with your fingers under running water. Try your best, and then boil them for 15 minutes with a change of water in the middle. Fiddleheads must be cooked before eating.

There are some concerns about eating fiddleheads. Health Canada and the Centers for Disease Control have investigated food-borne illness associated with the consumption of raw or undercooked fiddleheads. The common symptoms were diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and headaches. How pleasant...

They usually occured within 30 minutes to 12 hours after consumption. Symptoms typically lasted less than 24 hours, but it was found that in some cases it stayed around for up to three days.

Photo: oschene, Flickr ccl

Many ferns contain the enzyme thiaminase, that breaks down thiamine. That's highly undesirable. This can lead to beriberi and other vitamin B complex deficiencies if consumed to excess or if your diet is lacking in these vitamins. I’ m assuming that excessive consumption would be a few times a week.

If you haven’t been turned completely off yet, fiddleheads are available in the grocery for only a few weeks in springtime, and are not inexpensive. Pickled and frozen fiddleheads can be found in some gourmet shops (and some groceries) year-round.

Humans have been eating them for millenia. Just use some common sense. Two important tips: don't eat them raw, and don't forage from polluted areas.

Fiddleheads contain various vitamins and minerals, as well as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. They are a source of antioxidants and dietary fibre. They are low in sodium, but rich in potassium, which may make them suitable for people who need a low-sodium diet.

You have to watch what you pick, though. Many spring ferns are nick-named “fiddleheads” but are NOT the ostrich fern. For example, bracken (Pteridium genus), are carcinogenic. These also grow everywhere but are easily separated from fiddleheads because they grow singly as opposed to in a clump.

For a truly springtime feast, pair fiddleheads with fresh-caught brook trout. I do my best fishing at the grocery store, but the day I made this they didn’t have any trout. When I made this salmon was on sale so I had to make do… poor me.

The following recipe is a stunning way to prepare salmon or many other fish, regardless if you serve with fiddleheads or not.

Butter and wine.

Butter Poached Salmon with Fiddleheads

Prep: 5 min | Cook: 15 min (12 for the salmon) | Serves 4

4 salmon portions

2 tsp whole peppercorns

1 medium onion, sliced

1 cup salted butter

enough white wine to almost cover the fish

1 lb fresh fiddleheads

sea salt, for finishing

Melt the butter in a saucepan with a wide enough bottom to hold the fish in one layer without much additional room.

Meanwhile, trim the fiddleheads, clean and rinse well and place in salted water. Bring to a boil and let cook for 15 minutes,changing the water halfway through. Then drain.

Continuing with the salmon, add the peppercorns and onion to the butter and let sauté for about 2 minutes.

Add the salmon, skin side down, and pour in enough wine to come nearly to the top of the fish. (This is why you use a pan that isn’t too big. You use less wine.)

Partially cover and let simmer on medium high for 10 minutes.

Remove the salmon and increase the heat under the pan to high. Let the sauce cook down until almost all of the wine has evaporated.

To serve, divide the fiddleheads onto individual plates. Top with a piece of salmon and drizzle with the reduced sauce, onions and peppercorns. Sprinkle the fish with a little large grained sea salt.

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Looking for this plant...

2013-05-03T06:41:00.002-03:00

Dicentra Spectabilis, "Gold Heart"

When we sold our house in Halifax our fantastic Gold Heart Bleeding Heart went with it.

I'm sure it's brining its new owners joy, but I miss it terribly. It was like a light in our spring time garden.

You can find white and red, but this one's not too common. The leaves are a fantastic light green/gold.

If anyone knows where it can be purchased (through the Valley, South Shore or around Halifax) drop me a line. Thanks, friends!

Docaitta.

Heritage Red Fife Bread

2013-05-02T06:45:00.001-03:00

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. – Dalai Lama

I was watching an old episode of Jacques Pépin on Netflix a few nights ago. It was his “More Fast Food My Way” series. During the 21 minutes (commercials take 9) he makes several easy and fast dishes. Those PBS cooking shows never fail to make me happy.

Ready to rise. Looks like a mess, but fear not.

This particular episode he showed how to mix and bake bread right in a Dutch oven. I thought that was kind of clever. I could do that...

This is not Mr Pépin’s recipe at all. It is mine. I had bought some interesting flour a couple weeks ago at the Bulk Barn – red fife – and thought it was time to crack it open.

Red fife is prepared as a stone-milled whole wheat, which means that it has the usual endosperm that is found in white flour, but also the bran and germ. Those parts of the wheat have most of the fibre, B vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.

It also is supposed to have a lower gluten content so may be better tolerated than refined flour for those with gluten sensitivity.

As soon as the water hit the flour I could tell it was a “whole wheat,” albeit a red whole wheat. I can also attest to the lower gluten. My bread didn’t rise as usual, but that’s fine. It made a soft and delicious loaf that tasted great still warm with butter.

One of the main claims to fame of red fife grain is its links to Canada’s European history. Here’s some info.

From Wikipedia:

Red Fife is a variety of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) that David Fife and family began to grow in 1842 In Peterborough Ontario. Legend goes that a friend of Mr. Fife collected a sample of seed from a ship in the Glasgow port. Red Fife was the first wheat to be named in Canada and many modern varieties of wheat owe their genetics to Red Fife.

After 8 hours.

The seed might have originated in Turkey, then moved across the Black Sea to the Ukraine where Mennonite farmers grew it, then seed was shipped to Glasgow, where a friend of David Fife's found it, sent a sample of seed to Fife in Ontario.

Mr. Fife grew out the seed, shared the seed with other farmers and called the wheat Red Fife because the kernels were red and his name was Fife.

Red Fife wheat is a living artifact that is part of Canada's living history, cultural and agricultural heritage.

Red Fife seed arrived in Canada when Canadian lands were being opened for producing wheat. Red Fife seed adapted to a great diversity of growing conditions across Canada. It was the baking and milling industry standard for 40 years from 1860-1900. Plant breeders around the world continue to use the genetics of Red Fife to make new varieties of wheats.

I’ve heard of “kettle breads” before of course. I like to think that mine is a resurrection of what our ancestors may have made when they were forging a new life in a new land.

This one's also autolyse, which means it sort of "self kneads" by rising slowly for 8 hours. I did mine overnight and had fresh bread on the counter by about 7am!

This is the dough after just a couple of "kneads." Ready to bake.

Red Fife Bread

Rise: 8 hours | Bake: 35 min | Yield 1 loaf

3 cups red fife flour

1 cup spelt flour

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 tbsp yeast

1 tsp salt

3 cups lukewarm water

butter

Mix together all the ingredients except the butter in a Dutch oven.

Knead as best you can with your hands for about 3 minutes. It is easiest done by pulling the dough from the bottom of the pot up onto the top, almost like folding. It will be a sticky mess.

Alternatively you could knead it in a mixer with dough hook for 3 minutes, but that defeats the idea of making it in a “heritage” manner.

Rub the top with softened butter. Cover with a lid and let sit overnight.

In the morning, remove the dough from the pot and knead briefly. It will be far easier to work with now.

Wash and dry the Dutch oven, and then rub the interior generously with butter. Plop the dough back in the pot and let it sit while the oven preheats.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Once it reaches heat, bake the bread for 35 minutes, or until the interior sounds hollow when tapped with your fingers.

Remove the bread to a rack to cool.

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Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce

2013-05-01T05:53:00.001-03:00

I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note – torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one. – Henry Ward Beecher

Did you hear the one about the roast beef that was forgotten in the fridge?

Well you almost did. Because I almost forgot a rather large beef roast that I purchased easily 6 days ago. Thank goodness my refrigerator is cold.

Actually the “aged for flavour” time may have done it some good. This was one of the best roast beasts I ever did. Apologies to Dr. Seuss.

I had to deal with it, and all at once. No portioning it out for cooking later. If I waited I do believe the beats would have come alive in the refrigerator, or something anyway.

When you have big meat, do big recipes I say, among other things. The biggest? Roast, or in this case braised roast.

I have this thing where I can never leave well enough alone. I thought that a little red wine wouldn’t hurt. It never does any other time. But fate intervened.

When I went for the red I saw what turned out to be a stroke of genius in front of it: sherry. I though “what the heck...why not.”

Covering the roast allows the flavour of the sherry to permeate the meat – so don’t use garbage sherry. Spend a little dough. Just a little.

Of course one shouldn’t venture into the unknown without some sort of plan or strategy. Mine included mushrooms and horseradish. One cannot have roast beef without some sort of sauce, right?

As a side dish I served collard greens, for the first time ever. They're disgustingly healthy for you. A web site I trust says they may have the greatest cholesterol lowering ability of any of the cruciferous vegetables. (I had to look that up. It's a family of vegetables that include cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy...the flowers having four petals that look like a cross.)

This roast turned out to be one of the simplest I have ever done, besides one of the best. The only seasoning that went in was horseradish, salt and pepper. Once you try this you’ll understand why nothing else is necessary.

Making a roast does take some time, in this case 1hr 45. But it’s well worth it. And the oven does pretty much all of the work.

So the next time you almost forget an entire roast in your refrigerator, try not to forget this recipe. You’ll get rave reviews at the table.

Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce

Time: 1hr 45 min | Serves 6

3-4 lb beef roast

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup sherry

1 medium onion, sliced large

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

200 g Cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 tbsp prepared horseradish

1/4 cup sour cream

salt and cracked black pepper to taste

1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 1 tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other ovenproof pot with a lid. Season the roast with salt and lots of pepper.

Sear the roast on all sides until well browned. Pour the sherry into the pot. Then scatter the onions, garlic and mushrooms around the roast.

Cover and bake for 1 hour. Then uncover and bake for an additional 1/2 hour or until a thermometer inserted in the centre reads 165°F.

Remove the roast and let rest. Stir the horseradish and sour cream into the braising liquid and mushrooms. Season with salt and lots of pepper.

Pour the cornstarch and water into the liquid and bring just to a simmer. Stir until thickened. Do not let the mixture boil or the sour cream may curdle.

Serve slices of the beef with the sauce.

Collards

Prep: 5 min | Cook: 18 min | Serves 6

2 bunches collard greens

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon

Remove the stems from the greens. Chop the leaves into 1” pieces. Boil in salted water for 12 minutes and then drain.

Heat the oil in a pot. Sauté the garlic until fragrant. garlic. Add the cooked collards. Season with salt and pepper and sauté for 5 minutes.

Just before the time has finished, drizzle with lemon juice. Serve more lemon at the table if desired.

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Salmon with Cucumber, Lemon and Dill

2013-04-30T07:11:00.001-03:00

Moving fast is not the same as going somewhere. – Robert Anthony

Simple, fast and delicious.

Yesterday was a bit of a “day.” As much as the country life in this village is far less stressful, whenever you need to attend a client meeting it sure puts a dent in your hands-on work time.

Unless you teleconference, at least 1 hour of the day is spent on travel alone.

Simple, fresh, tasty.

Yesterday I had a working meeting with a great local client of mine that ran to over twice what I anticipated. I’m not complaining. We accomplished a lot and it will save on the other end of the work.

But by the time I finished running some “town” errands 5 hours had evaporated.

When I arrived home I then had to do the work that was waiting for me all day... It was pretty difficult to stay inside because yesterday felt like a very late spring day – about 16°C. Gorgeous.

I needed a quick and uncomplicated dinner. But at the same time I wanted to put something nutritious and appealing on the table.

I had a few weapons in my arsenal to accomplish it. I had bought salmon, lemon, a cucumber and some dill. The rest is stuff many already have hanging around.

On a warm day there’s precious little that tastes better than salmon with a cucumber salad. It really hits the spot. It’s also unbelievably light on the sweat equity necessary to make it.

Tips and tricks?

Make the lemon butter first. You can use it warm, but if it has started to re-set it then melts down over the salmon. It will separate if you let it sit, which is perfectly normal. Just whisk it briefly and it will come together and be beautifully creamy.

You can also make the salad ahead. The acids in the dressing acts on the onion if you do. It mellows the taste. No need for a fancy sweet onion. Just a regular yellow one works just fine.

Use an English cucumber. They are firmer through the centre than field cucumbers. That means less moisture will come out into your dressing.

If you can’t find decent salmon at a reasonable price try steelhead trout. It looks and tastes much like Atlantic salmon and is cheaper as well.

Outside? You could do this recipe on an outdoor grill surfaced with foil just as easily. Keep this one in mind as the weather turns warmer, like this weekend... fingers crossed.

This whole dinner for four took about 20 minutes. Not too bad when the outdoors is beckoning!

Salmon with Cucumber, Lemon and Dill

Prep 10 min | Bake 6 min | Serves 4

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 whole salmon filet, or salmon portions for 4

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

1/4 cup butter

salt and pepper to taste

smoked paprika, to taste

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the juice of 1/2 a lemon and 2 tablespoons dill. Let cool if you wish, while you make the rest of the dinner. Remember you can whisk the butter back together in a matter of seconds if it separates.

To make the salad, slice an English cucumber using a mandolin (or finely slice) and place in a non-metal bowl. Slice the onion and add to the cucumber. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise, juice of the last 1/2 lemon and 1/4 cup dill. Pour over the cucumber and onion and let sit while you cook the salmon.

Turn the broiler of the oven on high. Heat the oil in an oven-proof pan. Sear the salmon, skin side down, until it appears opaque half way up the fish, about 2-3 minutes. Season the top with salt and pepper.

Place the pan under the broiler, about 4” away, and finish cooking the fish. This will take another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with smoked paprika.

Serve the salmon with the cucumber salad. Drizzle the top of the fish with the lemon dill butter.

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How to build your own vine arbors

2013-04-29T06:56:00.000-03:00

The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. – William Shakespeare

Click on the image for full size printable version. There's a materials
list on the right hand side.

This post is "news you can use," so to speak. It's a get your hands dirty "how to", not only for your garden, but also a "how to" keep money in your pocket.

A few years ago we erected two supports for grapes, two Pinot Noir. They're meant to be a sort of summertime privacy "fencing", and also look very nice when the leaves are gone.

Marechal Foch grapes. Photo: Wiki CC

Since moving to the country the plans for these have gained added importance. Not only will they add to our privacy so we can more fully enjoy our side yard, but they’ll help me grow food.

I plan on building at least two more of this size as well as perhaps a couple lower ones for climbing vegetables like peas and beans. Maybe even cucumbers and squash. I understand you can train them that way.

I also did a plant run yesterday where I picked up, among other plants, a Marechal Foch wine grape. I guess viticulture has really taken hold in Nova Scotia when you can buy grapes like that at garden centres. Besides the Pinot Noir I also bought Chardonnay two years ago and plan on picking up a red seedless called Canadese.

Deal of the day yesterday? A good sized haskap berry at the Village Nursery in Pleasantville outside Bridgewater. $19.99. Twice the size of the ones at Canadian Tire for the same price.

Arbors are good for 12 months a year. They add to the "bones" which keep your garden looking nice in the non-growing months. There’s nothing worse through the winter months than looking out over a barren garden with nothing of interest there at all...

These also are easy on the wallet. Purchasing structures like these – if you could get them – would cost in excess of $200. Materials, way less that $100. Sweat equity: priceless.

The design of these echoes elements of an arbor entrance we also built, and the top of a summer porch but you can customize them to blend with whatever decor you have. The porch will have wisteria flowers hanging down through it — eventually... maybe.

Use the plan above "as is", or as an inspiration for designing and making your own. They're not rocket science. They just take a little time. You can probably make one, from start to standing in the ground, in about 3 hours. That includes all fabrication, digging holes, mixing cement, and standing up.

The 2x2 pieces which make up the centre of the structure are not cut from their purchased 8' length. That speeds fabrication up greatly. All you have to do is make sure that the inside space between your 4x4 uprights is also 8", or they won't fit.

If there is ONE secret, it's to assemble with either brass or coated screws as opposed to nails. If you use screws, any breakage or rot can be replaced far more easily. Nails are far harder to deal with down the road.

The above image shows them "in situ". They still have their side supports because the cement was just poured. The trees in front have been removed.

Grapes are funny creatures. They can struggle for years and then take of like a house afire. We’re still waiting for the “afire” bit.

We had grapes at the city house that took forever to reach their support, but once they did... I’m hoping the same is true here. The pinot noir grapes will be a bonus. We don't expect to make wine...probably. I wonder what they will taste like?

Remember, treated wood will last longer so buy it if you can. Or paint it with a preservative, but then be wary if you're growing anything on them that you want to eat.. These arbors are now at least three years old and look like the day I made them.

Plans and materials list is for one support.

One final word: we used 8' uprights, which meant that 1-1/2 feet went into the ground. Our frostline is 3 feet in Nova Scotia, so you may want to purchase 10' 4x4, just to be safe. We like to live on the edge.

Enjoy!

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Lillies. Work now. Enjoy later.

2013-04-28T07:07:00.002-03:00

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. – Matthew 6:28

Lillium supurbum (Turk's cap lilies), a few years go.

Yesterday was the first time all year I spent any real time playing in the ground.

I did it because I had to. I purchased some lilies from Canadian Tire on Friday. Now is the time to stick them in the ground, without delay. Our current lilies from previous years are bursting out of the ground at a rapid rate.

Day lilies at the old house in Halifax.

Two types of lilies

What kind of lilies you may ask. That can be a complicated question. Common name and real names sometimes don’t mean the same thing.

We have two main types of “lilies” in Nova Scotia: day lilies, and then the rest – true lilies. They’re easy to tell apart.

Day lilies

Day lilies, as the name suggests, have blooms that last only one day before withering. The stems contain many buds that mature, one after another, giving constant bloom for up to a couple weeks in very late spring/early summer. They have strap-like leaves and the blooms are at the end of leafless stocks.

Day lilies are not real lilies. Their proper name is hemerocallis. It comes from the combination of the Greek words for “day” and “beautiful.” They grow from rhizomes close to the surface of the ground. It doesn’t take long for a large mass to form if they’re in a happy spot.

Day lilies are divided into two main types: diploid (the old fashioned spindly ones) and tetraploid (the big flowered sturdy ones). Tetraploids have had their chromosomes increased. Both varieties come in re-blooming varieties, which is a good thing to look for. Hemerocallis seem to come and go far too quickly.

These are some of the bulblets that grow on the stalks of
many lillium. You can plant them and get more plants. First
year there's just one leaf. Give them time.

Lillium

“True” lilies (lilium) grow from a bulb composed of “scales.” The bulbs can be quite large on mature plants. They most commonly reproduce by the bulb naturally dividing. So the year after you have a fantastic tall lily you may have two sad, spindly ones. Never fear. If in a good spot they’ll come back strong.

Lillium have leaves that appear along the stem and they can grow to quite impressive height. For a few years in Halifax we had a “Scheherazade” that grew to well over six feet with approaching 20 flowers. Stunning. It was an “Orienpet” type – a cross.

True lilies come in several different forms: Asiatics, Martagons, Candidiums, Longiflorum, Trumpet, Orientals, and species (plus a few others). Each has a different looking flower and height, but all come from that scaly bulb. Orienpet is a cross between Oriental and Trumpet. Most true lilies are highly fragrant.

Many lilies have multiple ways to reproduce. For example, they can divide underground, produce seed from the flowers, and then (especially in tiger lilies) also grow odd little bulbs where the leaves meet the stalk. Plant them and in a few years you will have many, many more lilies.

Here’s an interesting fact. Even with all the breeding, no blue lilies have ever been produced.

A small section of the day lilies we have across the front of our property.

Buying lilies

Lilies of all kinds are in full force now in pots at garden centres and as bare root bulbs even in grocery stores.

Most day lilies are sold in pots, so all you do is take them home and plant. They’re not cheap. Never buy a day lily that hasn’t poked through its ground by now. There will be tears before bedtime if you do.

If buying lillium “bare root,” only buy bags that feel like they have some weight to them. Light bags mean the bulbs may be withered and/or dead.

This clump of day lilies is in desperate need of division.

Lillium in bags with wood shavings are quite affordable. I paid $6.69 for 5 bulbs per bag of some very nice Oriental hybrids. I got two bags. I may buy more.

The longer those bulbs stay in the bag the more chance you run of them drying out so plant as soon as you’re able. Our other lilies are up several inches already, and the new bulbs had stalk growth emerging.

Planting and dividing

When planting, put lillium bulbs at least a few inches under the ground, but don’t worry too, too much about how deep. A few inches is good. Lillium have roots that actually drag the bulb down to its proper depth. Weird, huh?

Often as lillium mature and divide they can crowd each other out. If you see you have a clump that may be a little tight you can move them in spring.

True lilies. Up a good 3-4" inches already. They can
probably stand to be re-spaced next year.

Carefully dig a circle out a way from the sprouts. If you get too close you may slice down through a bulb. Divide the bulbs from each other. If possible, leave some dirt around each bulb as you do so. Replant and you’re done.

If you want to transplant hemerocallis now is the time too. Actually, a couple weeks ago would have been better, but you can still do it now, or in the Fall if you would prefer.

Day lilies can form dense mats quite quickly. If you dog up the clump you will see it’s composed of many, many separate rhizomes. Each one is capable of producing a day lily.

When I divide I tend to replant them in bunches so there’s not a sad, lonely single lily standing by itself. They’re far more effective in clumps.

I’m working to have a row of day lilies the full way across the front of the property. It’s getting there. They are absolutely stunning when in bloom.

The weather is supposed to be glorious here today. I would imagine I’ll be out mucking around in my lilies again.

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You know, I really like comments... I really do.

Homemade Blueberry Liqueur

2013-04-27T06:37:00.003-03:00

Teaching, real teaching, is — or ought to be — a messy business. – Harry Crews

Photo: Wiki CC

My laptop desktop is getting messy. I don't know what's wrong with me.

I used to be horrifically "anal" about keeping it neat and tidy. It used to drive me around the bend. Now... meh, not so much (apparently).

I’m sure my pestering annoyed many people where I used to work. I was voluntarily their desktop police too.

I was cleaning up and spotted this recipe just hanging around. I had made it about a month ago. Since I haven’t posted a boozeer for a while, why not. I may need a drink later. I’m finishing my taxes today... Lucky thing is they’ll be owing me.

Regardless... this one can’t be simpler. It can also be made year-round using frozen berries. I would suggest using only wild blueberries. The large bush blueberries have no flavour in comparison.

I only had a spoonful’s actually, and my friends can’t tell me. I took a bottle to a weekend “gathering” and it definitely was emptied, but I think their taste buds may have already been a bit strained, if you get my drift.

If booze can be good for you though, this one would be it. It is blueberry jam packed (pardon the pun) with fruity goodness. Blueberries are quite good for you, in fact.

They have the highest antioxidant content of any fruit. Antioxidants fight free radicals in the body. Blueberries also affect the body’s capacity for storing and burning fat, in good ways.

The blue red colour pigment is caused by anthocyanins that help fight hypertension. Those same chemicals help improve brain function.

Pterostilbene, a compound found in blueberries has been shown to fight colon cancer. Colon cancer is the second highest cancer killer among Canadians. Lung cancer is first.

Be careful with this liqueur. If anything can stain your clothes, furniture, etc., it would be this. It is blueberry juice after all.

But if you want to have an excuse for a tipple that may very well be packed with blueberry’s health benefits, give this one a try. It may just extend your life – if “pickled” is the way you prefer to be...

Homemade Blueberry Liqueur

Prep: 10 min | Infuse: 1 week | Yield: 3 x 375 ml

375 ml vodka

2 cups frozen wild blueberries, thawed

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

rind of 1/2 lemon

3 whole cloves

1 cup whey, optional (it is a preservative)

Simmer the berries (and collected juice) with the sugar, water, lemon rind and cloves for 5 minutes.

Let cool, then pour into a jar and add the vodka. Stir well.

Let sit in a cool place for 1 week. Strain the mixture through cloth and bottle. If you press the berries to extract as much juice/booze as possible you may want to strain it two more times.

Let sit for another week for optimum flavour, but can be drank/drunk right away.

This liqueur will be at its best for about 4-6 months.

Without the whey this would probably be about 16% alc/vol; with the whey, about 10%. Both are pure conjecture. Drink responsibly... :-)

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You know, I really like comments... I really do.