Jenny's Food Ink

Sesame Bread

2012-01-14T19:47:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am still making bread without a recipe. In this batch I added 1/2 cup of sesame seeds and about 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds. I worked out food costs et cetera and figured out that it cost me less than $2.00 to make these 2 loaves! They stayed moist for 3 days. If you'd like to learn how to bake bread without a recipe, check out my post here

Be Inspired and Eat Local in January

2012-01-06T17:35:00.003-05:00

My personal favourite guide to seasonal Ontario produce is Foodland Ontario. It isn’t impossible to eat locally all winter and it certainly isn’t boring!

Even if you can’t make it to a farmers’ market, all major grocery stores now have signs stating the origins of the fruit or vegetable so it won’t be difficult to choose local.

Here is the list of vegetables that are grown in January with inspiring menu ideas and some recipes that are definitely not the norm. (Recipes and menu ideas that do not have a chef’s name afterwards are my own. If you would like the recipe for any of the dishes below, please email me. Click on the book title or Chef after the recipe for a link to buy the book)

Apples

Apple Soup (The New English Table by Rose Prince)

Melt 85g/3 oz of unsalted butter in a large pan. Add 1 large onion, roughly chopped, 2 garlic cloves, chopped, 12 apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped, 2 celery stalks, chopped, 2 sprigs of thyme and 1/2 tsp allspice. Cook over low heat until the apples soften and then add 1.2 liters of chicken stock. Cook for 15 more minutes, then season with salt and pepper. Serve with bread and cheese. Serves 4.

Beets

Beetroot Purée (A Year in My Kitchen by Skye Gyngell)

Purée 1.5kg cooked and peeled beets with 2 peeled garlic cloves and 1 large red chili. Wash 1 large bunch of coriander very well, then chop roughly and add to the beet mixture with 1/2 bunch fresh mint leaves, 1 tbsp freshly grated horseradish, 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp olive oil. Blend until a smooth puree and then fold in 125mL full fat Greek-style yoghurt. Serve as a garnish to a white bean soup, or as a dip with pita, or as a garnish to grilled fish.

Cabbage

Sautéed Savoy cabbage with chili and garlic (A Year in My Kitchen by Skye Gyngell)

Cabbage soup with confit rabbit shreds (A Chef for All Seasons by Gordon Ramsey)

Carrots

Sweet Carrot Pickle (A Taste of Palace Life: Royal Indian Cookery by Manju Shivraj Singh)

Peel 1lb carrots and cut into small cubes. Put in a pot and cover with 2 cups water then bring to a boil and cook until tender. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Add 1lb sugar, 4 cloves, 2 sticks of cinnamon and 4 cardamom pods to the liquid and simmer covered with a lid for 20 minutes. Add the carrots and simmer until the mixture thickens. Cool completely, then spoon into jars.

Cucumbers (greenhouse)

Fried Cucumbers ( I learned this recipe while working in Ireland, at the Rathsallagh House Hotel)

Slice one cucumber lengthwise and running a spoon down the length of it, remove the seeds. turn over so that the cucumber is steady on the cutting board. Chop the cucumber into half moons, about 1/4 inch wide. Heat a pan until very hot. Add 2 tbsp butter and once bubbling, toss in the cucumbers, keeping the heat high. Toss them a few times until hot, then season with a generous amount of fresh ground pepper. Serve immediately. These are a superb surprise.

Garlic

Garlic white wine mussels

Leeks

Leek Chips ( A Chef for All Seasons by Gordon Ramsey)

Split open the white of a leek and cut the layers into large bite-size squares. Blanch for a few seconds and then pat dry and brush each side with truffle oil. Dry them out in a single layer on a baking sheet in the oven at the lowest temperature until crisp.

Saffron-scented leek soup with pickled girolles ( A Chef for All Seasons by Gordon Ramsey)

Lettuce ( greenhouse)

Heart of romaine with wood-grilled onions, radishes, fresh cheese and roasted garlic dressing (Rick Bayless)

Mushrooms (greenhouse)

Mushroom risotto garnished with chopped almonds and shaved pecorino

Mushroom caps fileld with bone marrow ( Jeremiah Tower)

Onions

Panade of slow-cooked onions with Gruyère (A Year in My Kitchen by Skye Gyngell)

Melt 50g unsalted butter in a large pan over low heat. Add 4 yellow onions, sliced very thinly and sprinkle over 1 1/2 tsp caster sugar and a pinch of salt.Cook gently for 20 minutes until very soft. Pour in 50mL brandy* (*Be sure to keep children well away as the brandy may ignite. If it does, don’t try to blow it out! Simply let the alcohol burn off and soon the flame will extinguish). Increase the heat and add 1 bay leaf, 4 sprigs of thyme and 750mL of chicken stock. Cook for 10 minutes and then remove the herbs. Toast some bread and rub with a clove of garlic. Ladle over the broth and onions and finish by sprinkling some grated Gruyère.

Parsnips

Smoked haddock chowder (A Year in My Kitchen by Skye Gyngell)

Woodcock with caramelized parsnips and chocolate sauce ( A Chef for All Seasons by Gordon Ramsey)

Potatoes

Potato soup with a drizzle of truffle oil ( A Chef for all Seasons by Gordon Ramsey)

Rhubarb

Baby red mullets with choucroute and rhubarb ( A Chef for All Seasons by Gordon Ramsey)

Rhubarb compote with seared foie gras

Rutabaga

Rutabega dip with sour cream and fried sage

Squash

Squash soup Mantua style (Giuliano Bugialli’s Foods of Italy by Guiliano Bugialli)

Cut 1 butternut squash, about 2 pounds, into thirds then remove skin and seeds. Cut the squash into smaller chunks and soak in cold water for thirty minutes. Heat 8 tbsp butter in a large pot and once melted add 1 4oz piece of prosciutto and sauté over low heat for 5 minutes. Drain the squash and add it to the pot. Cook for 15minutes, then add 3 cups beef broth and then cook another 15 minutes. Remove the prosciutto and discard. Purée the soup, add salt and pepper to taste and then cook for 10 minutes longer over low heat. Serve hot, garnished with a basil leaf. Serves 6.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potato stew with crab, coriander, lime and butter (A Year in My Kitchen by Skye Gyngell)

Coleslaw

2012-01-02T12:11:00.002-05:00

coleslaw.

Although I'm unemployed, it seems I am rarely home and it is depressing when I watch an entire case of baby spinach go to mush before it is opened. What I need is an appetizing, affordable and nutritional food in my fridge that will stay good for a week. I need coleslaw.

I almost always have coleslaw in my fridge. It is the perfect food for a number of reasons. Cabbage, carrots and onions are cheap and available all year round. They last forever in your fridge and so do the other ingredients necessary for slaw: mayonnaise and vinegar. Once you make your slaw, it will last up to a week. Red cabbage, carrots and onions are packed with nutrients. Of course, as soon as any vegetable is picked, plucked, cut, or cooked it begins to lose its nutritional value, but coleslaw is still better than KD.

My recipe:

1/2 red cabbage, shredded

2 carrots, grated

1 kholrabi, peeled ( optional. It is another healthy veg that stays fresh for a long time)

1-2tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp mayonainse

salt and pepper

Stir it all together and eat. The next day, stir again before eating and it will be even better than day one!

All About Persimmons

2011-11-27T13:29:00.002-05:00

I knew they existed. That is to say, I knew that they were orange and called persimmons but I didn’t know much else. I saw signs in Chinatown flaunting a sale of 15 for $5, but I couldn’t buy that many without first knowing more. Even though this temperate fruit can cause pain if eaten before it is ripe enough, it is still part of every fruit display along Spadina, and therefore it must be delicious. I began my research hoping I was correct in assuming dangerous = delicious

Persimmons Species

The Mexican species (D.digyna) known as black sapote gets unenthusiastic reviews. However, if you ever need to dye a sheepskin black, then black sapote is the way to go – or so I’m told.

American persimmons (D.virginiana) are plum-sized and used to be highly valued in eastern United States, but have since been out-shadowed by the superior kaki (D. kaki).

Kaki is the most popular persimmon worldwide. Native to China, this non-astringent species was adopted by Japan. They are about the size of apples and are prized for their sweetness, which is balanced by their low acidity. The bright orange flesh contains beta-carotene and lycopene and because of this, they share a similar aroma with winter squash.

The most popular cultivars of Kaki persimmons are the flat-bottomed persimmons, Fuyu and the Jiro. Neither is tannic and both can be eaten when still fairly firm. You can peel them before eating, and when you take a bite, make sure not to eat any seeds.

Astringent Persimmons

Like the stringy bits inside a banana peel, not everyone enjoys astringency. Astringent persimmons, identified by their acorn shape, need to be very ripe before eating and even then the skin is fairly inedible and is better used as a cup for the pulp inside. The most popular astringent cultivar is the Hachiya, distinguishable by it’s dark yellow flesh.

The astringency comes from the high level of tannins in the fruit. In Japan, unripe, astringent persimmons are crushed, fermented and used as a dye called kakishibu (meaning, persimmon-bitter). Kakishibu was one of the most widely used preservative and weatherproofing agents in Japan during the Heian Period (794 – 1185 AD) and continues to be used in the same way today. Artist Masamichi Terada was “intrigued by the subtle beauty of the material” and decided to devote his life to study and preserve kakishibu-dyeing as an art form.

If you are going to eat the astringent persimmons, you must wait until they are so ripe they are almost liquid beneath the flesh; otherwise, they are inedible. The astringency of an unripe persimmon is due to the tannins, which break down the salivary proteins and cause the mouth to feel dry and sandpapery.

It was centuries ago that the Chinese discovered that if unripe persimmons were buried in mud for several days they would lose their astringency. For the scientific foodies: The lack of oxygen in the mud altered the persimmons’ metabolism, resulting in the accumulation of an alcohol derivative: acetaldehyde, which binds with tannins in the cells, thus preventing them from binding with our salivary proteins. Cool! If you want to try it out yourself, you can tightly wrap your unripe persimmon in cling film; there is no need bury it in mud unless you are hardcore. Freezing the fruit and then thawing it softens the fruit and also removes some of the astringency.

Medicinal Properties

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? I am curious about the health qualities of persimmons because in traditional Chinese medicine, bitter foods are connected to the heart. As it turns out, astringent persimmons (shi zi) have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years. Some practitioners use fresh persimmon juice to lower blood pressure (note: persimmons DO interact with blood-pressure medicine. So talk to your doctor). More commonly used is the dried calyx. (A calyx includes all of the sepals of a flower, which form the outer floral envelope that protects the developing flower bud.) The persimmon calyx (shi di) is dried in the sun and used to treat ailments of the lungs and stomach. It directs stomach qi downwards, which pushes food downwards in order to remove impurities.

Harvesting and Preparing to eat Persimmons

Harvest season varies depending on elevation, sunlight, et cetera, but wherever they are, the fruit is picked - always leaving the calyx intact - when it is dark orange and still firm – between October and December. For better flavour, non-astringent persimmons can be left on the tree until they are a bit softer.

Persimmons – astringent and non-astringent – are delicious when dried. They can either be peeled and dried whole or cut into slices. In Japan, the dried fruit is called hoshigaki. Traditionally in Japan, the whole, peeled astringent Hachiya persimmons are hung in rows, resembling lanterns so that airflow is even. When astringent persimmons are dried they lose all their astringency and develop a sweet, chewy consistency. Every few days they are massaged gently to distribute the pulp inside. Eventually a white bloom develops; it looks like mould, but in fact it is the sugar drying on the surface. Once dried, the darkened persimmon maintains its acorn shape. In China it is called shi bing, in Vietnam it is known as hồng khô and in Korea it is known as gotgam. In Korea, dried persimmons, cinnamon and ginger are used to make the traditional Korean spicy fruit punch, sujeonggwa. In Korea, persimmon vinegar, called gamsikcho is praised for its health benefits.

If persimmons can be made into vinegar, then they can be made into wine. Persimmon wine is made and enjoyed worldwide. There are also many recipes online that do not seem too difficult; you’ll be hiccuping in no time!

In the United States, persimmon pudding is made in a similar way to pumpkin pie – and also served with whipped cream. Heat accentuates astringency, so adding half a teaspoon of baking soda to every cup of persimmon pulp will help moderate the taste.

There are far too many delicious ways to eat persimmons – I think I’ll make persimmon chutney and go from there. Recipe to come soon or available upon request.

The Toronto Food Policy Council's 20th Anniversary: Together at the Table

2011-11-01T13:48:00.003-04:00

Below are the inspiring, informative and educational notes I wrote furiously during the wonderful Together at the Table event, held at 157 King Street East on October 20th, 2011. Sustaining communities and sharing knowledge was the medium and the message at the event.

Welcome, 9am:

Joe Mihevc boasts that “ organizations have been mushrooming”
Debbie Field is the Director of FoodShare
City counsellor Joe Mihevc is proud to have both Wychwood Barns and Not Far from the Tree in his ward and explains, “ We as city counsellors need to learn to be facilitators”.

Helen St.Jacques began working with the Toronto Food Policy Council through FoodShare. She urges anyone who is interested to sign up as a “friend” to the TFPC, and attending the monthly meetings ( which alternate week to week from formal to informal). Also of note is that the meetings are audio recorded at City Hall.
Currently there are 4 standing committees representing the TFPC.
Lauren Baker is a member of the food strategy team at Toronto Public Health

How Now Brown Cow: Milky Science for the Public Good, 9:30am:

Rod MacRae was the 1st full time health food advocate embedded in government.
MacRae suggested a number of articles including: Reducing Urban Hunger in Ontario: Policy Responses to support the transition from food charity to local food security, and Efficiency, Substitutions and Redesign.
MacRae illustrated how the TFPC took its first big leap in establishing itself as a sturdy force driven by a mantra of transparency, holistic thinking and community involvement. In the 1990’s, When the TFPC challenged the r.B.H.G. case, the government chose to head the advice and reject the drug ( which had at that time, already been approved in the United States), and instead work with the Health Council and Agricultural Sector. For the first time a municipal body - functioning as subcommittee to Toronto Public Health - had an impact on the larger provincial and federal government, directed through Health Canada. To this day, MacRae reminds us that it is a big challenge in food policy to intersect and interact with governing bodies at decision-making levels.

Policy by Participation, 9:45am:

Acting as moderator is Catherine Mah, who works at the Food Policy Research Initiative at the Centre for Metal Health and Addiction. She is also an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana school of Public Health at U of T. To Mah, ‘policy’ is a statement of “who eats what, when and how”.
Nick Ferri is the Farmer and Chair of the GTA Agricultural Action Committee, a provincially started organization which developed a strategy/ “action plan” for “horseshoe agriculture” ( from Toronto to Hamilton).
Tracy Phillippi began as an intern at the TFPC in 2009 and shortly after founded the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council (TYFPC). She is currently an apprentice at Black Oak, as an aspiring Brew Master.
Barbara Emanual works with Toronto Food Strategy (Toronto Public Health), managing international development, social development and policy. She adds, “ public health policy is the full spectrum”: from health to the environment.
Anan Lololi has been a TFPC member for 15 years. As executive director of the Afi-Can FoodBasket, Lololi supports urban agriculture and the adversity of food grown and sold in Ontario.
Author of The Tyranny of Rights, Brewster Kneen begins by explaining that he was awakened to how humans are related to the world when reading The Economy of Sugar. In 1971 he farmed in Nova Scotia, where he remained until 1986, learning about how and why the metropolis benefits from reaping and rendering farms dry. In the 1980’s he acted as Food Chair, a precursor to the TFPC and appreciated how the community had to come together, forming “unforeseen alliances” during the Real Milk Campaign.
Asked about a spectrum of participation, and whether citizens can really make an impact, Emanuel points out that many communities don’t have the proper information that is accessible, transparent and easy to understand. Once the communities demand - as they must, she adds - transparency from the Food Policy counsellors, they will have the means to move forward and participate.
To the same note, Brewster adds that even if the government does issue information, it is to the tune of their agenda. For real facts, the structure should be more grassroots, including the statements and concerns of communities and farmers.
With more inclusion during the decision making process, we are more likely to come to results that benefit each tier and their respective platforms. Ferri gives the example of the Greenbelt. While Toronto boasts a green nest on maps, farmers feel their voices have not been heard and worry about the implications of being told what to do with their land and fret about their retirement money being taken away.
To help our farming neighbours, many Torontonians have taken to voting with their dollar: buying local produce to support local farmers who are forced to compete with companies south of the boarder who don’t have to face the same strict regulations and labour costs and can thus sell their product at a cheaper price.
There are lots of ways to become involved: Phillippe suggests collaboration; entrepreneurship; simply asking organizations what they are missing; becoming an expert or by reciprocal mentorship.
Lololi explains that the more people involved, the more food security attained. The government grants mobility to community ideas through the support of non-government organizations (NGOs). Emanuel discusses that in giving a small community the means to fund a community-driven food project the project was able to thrive and become highly successful, impacting council and policy making. The constant creative focus at the TFPC is fueled by events such as Together at the Table, where issues large in government scope are brought forth, discussed and solved city-wide.

Charting the Future of Food, 11:30am:

Wayne Roberts was the second coordinator at the TFPC. He notes that the TFPC is part of Toronto but not of Toronto, citing that the Public Health office is not even located with the other government buildings, but rather quite a few blocks away, at Bloor and Dundas. There, you will find the next speaker, and manager at Public Health, Susan Shepherd. She reminds us that not only is it the TFPC’s 20th anniversary, but also the 10th anniversary of the Toronto Food Charter. The charter works to reinforce the right to nutritious, culturally appropriate food. It is a document put together by a web of community and city agencies, which promotes community supported agriculture (CSA) and partnerships, amongst other sustaining solutions. It is a tool for institutional refinement, Roberts adds, as well as a reference for the TFPC: “All departments of every business will view food as part of their responsibility”.

Reports from the Field: Designing a 21st Century Food System, 11:45am:

Executive Director of Local Food Plus (LFP) Lori Stahlbrand acts as the moderator.
Brian Cook of Public Health Toronto begins by stating that “Food has become invisible”. Private sector zoning inhibits the ability for local food shops to grow and there are still many laws which restrict the areas one is able to sell local food. We need subsidies on healthy food! If we intentionally combine and connect all of our efforts and strategies, we will go far, Cook assures the room.
Next, farmer of 20 years and now project manager at FarmStart, Sri Sethuratnam warns that the Canadian farm populations are aging and now only 2% of the population is involved with food production. Canada has some of the most fertile land in the world, and yet it is still under constant threat of being suffocated by cement infrastructure and roadways. Many immigrants come to Canada with vast knowledge and organic farming practices more than 100 years old, and yet the end up working at assembly line jobs because there are few other options. That is why Sethuratnam started incubator farms in 2008, and why he enjoys working at FarmStart, where new farmers get access to to land and equipment.
Kelly Gordon is a community dietician who works with the urban aboriginal population.
Leading The Stop’s food program is Nick Saul, who wants to change that “the rich get organic, the poor get diabetes”. By creating food hubs - community spaces to share food - we create access to local, organic food for people of all income levels: “Food banks are dead” because they marginalize the poor and divide us as citizens. Food banks, unlike food hubs, are also infamous for their shelves of corn-packed, sugar saturated “foods”. We need to look at food as the route to health, not as a social divider. We can’t all vote for local food by purchasing it. We are more than just consumers: we care about our health, and the health of everyone! Saul hopes to create a myriad of centres and robust organizations which find a way to provide often expensive organic foods, cooking classes, and other often elitist activities to everyone, of all income levels. Saul hopes for 25 community food centres in Toronto by 2025.
The lively Chef Joshna takes the microphone next and enthralls the crowd with her success story: The Scarborough Hospital has hired her as a full time consultant to help develop and implement a new menu of homemade food using local ingredients for the patients. The cost to stay a day in a hospital bed will add up to approximately $1200. Just $10 of that goes towards food. What’s more, is that food waste had risen to 43%. By adjusting portion sizes and creating sumptuous, salubrious meals, Joshna will be able to lower food waste, which saves the money she will use to fund her local menu.
Jennifer Welsh was the first Citizen Co-Chair of the Toronto Food Policy Council (1990-1992) and coined the term “food security”. In the 1970’s she interviewed Tim Lang in the United Kingdom, who helped to format how the TPC would function.

Lunch, 12:30pm:

Before lining up for the complimentary vegan lunch of curried vegetables, brown rice and salad, Cathleen Kneen, Chair at Food Secure Canada, lead the group in a round of grace. We sung the grace together three times, thanking the farmers and the soil for our meal. Lunch was delicious, and all leftovers went across the street to feed a group of protestors supporting Occupy Toronto.

A Farmer & Food Activist Walk into a Bar: The Birth of the Good Food Box and Student Nutrition Programs, 1:30pm:

Expertise development is critical to successful campaigning, which leads to successful programs, then to policy development with the hopes that the policy will act to support and maintain that program. This is how student nutrition programs began.
Debbie Field sites that the most important book to read on this topic is by Jeremy Rifkin called Empathetic Civilization. It tells of how we must create a new supply chain based on empathic actions and relationships.

How Can We Grow? Food Hubs from Concept to Practice, 1:45:

Janine de la Salle now works in Vancouver as a Planner and recently co-authored Agricultural Urbanism: Handbook for building food systems in 21st centuries cities. Before “food hubs”, Vancouver had the City Market in the 1990’s, which eventually became (and still is) the New City Market.
Randy Whitteker of the Ontario Natural Food Coop is proud to share with the audience that his “hub” has more than 50% Canadian vendors, with 93% of sales in Ontario. He has worked out an operational business model to guide his 200,000ft hub. It will be comprised of local ingredients, and a place where they can be cooked and prepared ( there will even be a mill for grinding flour!) and distributed from one centre.
Whitteker mentions Russ Christianson who created a sustainability scorecard
Utcha Sawyer, FoodShare’s Community Animator brings ideas to life. She has overseen 720 student nutrition programs and supplies subsidized food boxes that also food information.
Ayal Dinner is the Operational Coordinator at the West End Food Coop. His focus on Parkdale’s producers, eaters, community partners and workers will ensure that the coop, set to open in a few months, will flourish. In 2009, he and his team conducted surveys, and involved - and encouraged the involvement of - the community. The results helped to shape what the hub will become.
Gavin Dandy teaches at Flemming College and works at the Everdale Environmental Learning Centre, where they have had an active local food hub for almost 10 years. Everdale is known as a teaching farm, which builds and engages local communities. Their produce is sold at Everdale and Brickworks markets.
So what is a “hub” anyways? To de la Salle, a hub is a centre whose whole is greater than its parts; it has multiple functions that results in local profit ( educational or monetary) for multiple stakeholders. Because it is a fairly new term, “hubs” are a nightmare for zoning bylaws.
So how do we measure the effectiveness of food hubs? Allison Palmer ( Food Counts) deems that measuring qualitative and quantitative data in order to track the progress of the sustainable food system may have too many results to understand as a whole. She suggests we map it graphically, such as an areal of the food system.

Serving Up a Tray of Ideas, 3:45:

Lauren Baker speaks about the ‘community kitchen’ and its origins in Peru. Brazil, too, has a large infrastructure of food at the citizen level: there are seed banks and even a school program which helped to develop biological pesticides.
“Ya Basta” (“Enough!”) was shouted by Mexican farmers who protested against free trade with the United States for a number of reasons found here
Wayne Roberts advices those discouraged by set-backs and failures: “ don’t worry, be happy”. He describes conflict like friction, ever wearing away our energy but chirps up that we should be enjoying the ride, making the right choices for the moment, and not worrying about a peak-oil future. He suggests we work together on all levels, to develop platforms so that the public interest of ‘good’ food is ultimately protected by the government.

Closing Keynote: Ralph Martin, 4pm:

Ralph Martin reminds us, to have an attitude of gratitude. He mentions that he believes “ to ‘grab’ a bite to eat sounds disrespectful to food”.
Taking the ideology used by Roberts, Ralph Martin begins his keynote presentation by sharing his email and phone number, and encouraging the audience to contact him should we even have any concerns about anything environmental.
He discusses Thomas Berry’s idea of the Technozoic vs Ecozoic eras. He explains that Berry has used “-zoic”, to describe the length of an era because our technological timeline, although quite short in comparison, has had an impact on the Earth worth one whole era. We have numbers of pollution/destruction “resistance” strategies and feedback loops, but it is arrogant to think that we can fix the world, as humans are just a blink of the Earth’s existence. Berry belives that the 21st century is a transitional phase from the Cenozoic to the Ecozoic era.
Anthropence is the attitude that humans are superior to, and separate from other species. This results in treating other living beings as dispensable objects, and the exploitation of the Earth as a mere ‘resource’. The opposite is Ecocentric.
The fallacy that there is not enough land to grow food for everyone is based on the over-eating and wasteful habits of North Americans. If portion sizes were reduced to what they should be, and we stopped wasting so much ( more than 40% of food is wasted in Canada), and if we followed Michael Pollens suggestion to “Eat food. Not much. Mostly Plants”, then we would be closer to sustaining our Earth.
In Canada, we have plenty of land. There are 78 Canadians per square kilometer of farmland ( a vast difference to the Netherlands 2205 people per square kilometer of farmland). Yet, farmland is used for things besides food: fuel, fiber, and feed. Much of the time, the methods used to reap the four aforementioned “F’s” leave the soil wallowing in pesticides and contaminates. Unfortunately, half of the grade A land in Toronto is already buried under concrete and will never be fertile again.
Martin asks us to use “Sustain” as a verb, rather than “Sustainable”, the noun. He suggests that the action word will motivate thought processes focused on the present, while maintaining the knowledge that the landscape of what is and is not sustainable is constantly morphing. He uses the example of the use of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers. At first seen as a blessing, nitrogen-rich fertilizers acted to reduce hearty crops for the suffering post-war citizens. Instead, we eventually learned that the soil had become nitrogen-dependent and that excesses of potassium were running into our streams, polluting them. The sustaining thing to do, Martin suggests, is to use legumes, specifically the Kolberg legume, which protects soil and provides feed for livestock. We can effectively recycle municipal solid waste (MSW), manures and sewage and it is imperative we do so that we are recycling phosphorous, rather than dumping it into the ocean.
Ralph Martin recommends reading Peter Senge’s The Necessary Revolution.
“One ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
We must reduce the degrees of separation to our food. It is when we see the animals, the farmers and the land that we can truly have an “attitude of gratitude”. If you appreciate what you have, Ralph says wisely, then you know when you have enough. Globalization has enhanced our separation from our food source, and has stripped many of the feeling of responsibility. In a small town, everyone is nosey, and Martin suggests we begin butting into other people’s business, because in the end, the Earth is important to us all, and it is our business.
One way to get involved, is to become a “Yeeppie”: a Young Ecological Entrepreneur Professional/Practitioner, rather than the consumerist Yuppies.

FOODSTOCK

2011-10-18T17:06:00.002-04:00

On Sunday October 16th, we drove north through the hilly Hockley Valley, up to Ontario’s roof: the highest and most fertile land in Ontario. From there, we tossed our map and followed the peloton of car-pooled cars to Foodstock.

Hockley Valley

arriving at Foodstock

Arriving at the edge of a golden-leafed forest, we submitted our donation towards the cause: to stop the mega quarry proposed by The Highland Companies, an American company which bought 7000 acres of farmland with the guise of using the land for potato production. The quarry would be the largest on the continent – deeper than Niagara Falls, and would not only take massive amounts of energy (i.e. pollution) to fuel, but would also contaminate the watershed of spring water that feeds into numerous rivers and streams. When The Highlands Companies has scraped up all of the limestone (used for highways and infrastructure), they propose to use the land again for farmland. If the farmland can be rehabilitated (the Minister of MNR is doubtful) it would still require 600million litres of water to be pumped in per day, perpetually.

Outraged, the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT) began to petition and in September 2011, they convinced the Ontario government to demand an environmental assessment (EA). It is mind-boggling that no quarry of any size has had to face an EA in Ontario, but promising that government has agreed to look into how the quarry will impact the watershed, farmland, environment and communities.

Chef Stadtlander dishin' out some soup

It was comforting to arrive to the windy, rainy, muddy forest, greeted by wafts of smoke and crackling fires. Foodstock is an event is to raise awareness and bring community together. There is power in numbers. Michael Stadtlander deserves a hearty round of applause, as he is known in food-lovers’ circles as a pioneer to Slow Food in Canada. Respected for his Michelin-star worthy creations using all local ingredients, he has often brought chefs together from around Canada to bond, discuss, cook and praise food from farm to fork.


Buca boys

from Buca: boar prosciutto, soft pecorino, balsamic and pistachios

The map showed that more than 60 cooks from restaurants in Toronto and surrounding areas had set up tents along the forest paths with small fires behind over which to cook. The (FREE!) food was amazing due to the talent and hard work of the chefs and their cooks, but it was also an obvious homage to Ontario’s produce, which is honoured by the chefs not just for Foodstock, but all season long at their respective restaurants.

from Loic: potato-beet rosti with fennel cream and a candied beet chip


handmade gnocchi with pancetta, brussle sprouts and sage

Parts & Labour tent

The first tent I visited was Parts & Labour and Chef Matty and (we cooks know him as) Kung-Fu, who were smearing liverwurst on a large baguette, topping it with pork belly braised over the fire and sprinkling slaw on top before slicing the sandwich into eight portions and handing them to smiling faces. Chef Matty Matheson passed a sandwich to a woman behind him, who had raised the cow whose liver became liverwurst. It was beautiful to see it full-circle and a perfect start to a day filled with intimate interactions and comradeship.

from Parts & Labour: liverwurst and pork belly sammy

two gentlemen helping a lady stuck in the mud

The estimated number of people to attend was 20,000. Given that the weather was sporadic, I hadn’t expected to see so many people but in each line, there they were - grandparents and kids and everyone between – holding their mismatched cutlery, cups and plates, smiling and steadying themselves on mud as they waited to be served by the chef. After just two hours many of the chefs had already served 2,000 people!

from Kolapore Springs: trout gravlax cured in lavender with beet relish

the sun comes out

Through the trees, we followed the cheers to find an opening to a large field, where there was a stage set up for performances by Canadian musicians: Sara Harmer, Ron Sexsmith and The Barenaked Ladies, to name a few. There were tractors on display and children bobbing for the most delicious (Ontario) red apples.

When the event was scheduled to end, around 5pm, it began raining heavily and the space cleared out fairly quickly. Left behind were the chatting chefs, hard-working mud-soaked farm-hands racing back and forth on their 4-wheelers, and cars stuck in the mud, pulled out by tractors and directed by volunteers. The car was silent on the way home save the crunch of crisp apples savoured by soothed souls. I am hopeful.

the day's end

Thank you to all the chefs, musicians, organizers, farm-owners, and to everyone who came.

Can't Wait for Those Peaches to Ripen?

2011-09-08T14:17:00.001-04:00

Every Ontarian knows that it is peach season and we all have the sticky, smiley faces to prove it.

But living alone, one has got to be creative when finding a way to eat through a basket of peaches. They were just $2.77 at No Frills, but not one peach was ripe.

What to do!?

That night, I made a wonderful slaw of Ontario Kholrabi, cucumber and carrots (apple cider vinegar dressing) to accompany my "40-garlic-clove-chicken". I had bought a little Hallal chicken ("Hand Slaughtered" it said on the packaging) for $5 and smothered it with a bulb's worth of crushed Ontario garlic. I also bought a giant bag of rice and put some on the stove.

Suddenly, I craved a sweet and sour sauce for my Asian-ish dinner.

I grabbed two unripe peaches and chopped them up. I threw them into a little pot with about 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and about the same amount of white sugar. I let the peaches simmer and once they had softened, I used my hand blender to puree the sauce. I tasted it, and added a bit of salt.

Since I was craving that glossy, sticky clear sauce, I decided to go one step further and strain it. I used the back of a spoon to rub the pureed peaches through the sieve and voila!

Dinner was delicious and I found a way to enjoy unripe peaches!

No slices is fine with me at John's Pizzeria of Bleecker Street

2011-08-21T14:09:00.002-04:00

“No slices” it reads on the website, menu, and on a plaque hanging over the kitchen. Below the plaque, a cook faces out into the dining room as he scoops handfuls of toppings from 8L buckets. That’s a lot of mise (preparation for what I imagine is a usual night: Busy!). Everyone who eats at John's leaves smiling, celebrities included. Vanilla Ice, Regis Philbin and Jack Black have all demolished a John’s Pizzeria pizza. There are photos lining the front window to prove it. The “small” is quite large at 14 inches but the thin crust is enough to persuade me that it’s possible to finish it alone. I opt for cheese and pepperoni ($14).

As I wait, I sip my Chianti (no vineyard listed on the menu, $6) and enjoy watching the two waiters rush around serving pizza on big silver trays to the chattering patrons. There is rock music on, but it’s quiet enough to hear conversations swirl around the room. The restaurant is small and every seat is taken. There is a line outside of hungry New Yorkers and tourists, but there is a high turnover rate (that it, people order, devour, and tear themselves out of their seat to make room for the next customers quite rapidly) so they needn’t wait long. There are 10 booths and 4 tables of 4 – all of which have become a canvas of happy etchings of customers past: “KIKI” and “I <3 U”. It reminds me of Sneaky Dees, home and good times.

A few minutes later, my pizza arrives. I usually smother my pizza in chili flakes - and there are some on the table, along with powdered Parmesan - but I take my first bite without either. I finish my first slice and decide I won’t use either for the rest of the pizza. The thin layer of cheese is lying on the dough, with two concentric circles of sweet, tangy and bright red passata on top of it. The pepperoni is thin and not too salty. I began scribbling down notes at first bite – and I have now consumed half of the 6-sliced pizza. Needless to say, it’s delicious.

Orange oil drips onto my plate and I am quick to sop it up with the thin (but still moist and chewy!) crust. The waiter hasn’t visited me since he dropped off the pizza. Maybe that’s because he knows it’s perfect. I leave dazed, with a paper bag containing my two last slices. I eat one the next morning for breakfast and it’s still perfect. I save the other for Toronto.

John’s Pizzeria

278 Bleecker Street, between 6^th and 7^th Ave.)

New York City

New York

The 2nd Annual Conscious Food Festival Recap!

2011-08-21T13:01:00.002-04:00

Aug 13^th, 2011: 11-8 pm

Aug 14^th, 2011: 11-6 pm for free!

I felt like a child entering a fair ground when I approached the white tents spread out over the lawn at Fort York. I had attended last year’s event and so I knew what to expect: healthy appetites, eager chefs, and good ol’ sustainable fare.

The Front Door Organics box is just $37

Everyone was on board for sustainable. There were farmers, beauty products, and herbal medicines made from locally sourced plants, craft beers and food battles – all in the name of Earth-friendly products.

www.blackrivergatehouse.com

One ticket cost one dollar. I bought ten, to start, and quickly used them up on little cups of beer (most were only one token) and snacks (averaging 3 tokens per).

I tried to follow a sensible, efficient route, so that I would visit each vendor and forget no one. The map at the entrance helped me plan the path.

I started at Berkley Catering, where a close friend, Don is the Sous Chef. He had divulged the night previous, upon prying, that they would be serving a trio of crostini. I mentioned I was a friend, and was promptly handed a crostini topped with smoked eggplant puree, and a proscutto wrapped fig. Crunch, soft, salty, sweet, and delicious. Another crostini had on it braised short rib, white bean puree and a cute fingering potato chip – a beautiful summer take on a winter staple. Still clutching my ten tickets, I said hello to friend and former boss, Anthony Davis, who is now Head Chef at Sidecar. At Sidecar, Chef Davis promotes seasonal, sustainable food on his ever-changing menu. Taking a look at his menu, anyone can see he supports local producers, and acknowledges their hard work by including them right on his menu: “Artisanal cured meats from Niagara's Mario Pingue” and “Monforte’s Sheep’s milk feta”.

Grindhouse Taco

Next on my feastful journey I headed towards smoke and sizzling. Grindhouse Chef, Tim Pettigrew was grilling locally sourced beef and then stuffing it into a fried-to-order (and gluten free!) taco. He topped it with arugula, fresh salsa, guacamole and sour cream. The peppery arugula brightened the smoky, shaved beef. I sat down in the center of the field, at one of the tables to enjoy the taco fully. From there, my focused and efficient plan unraveled and I began wandering towards one food stand to another in a daze.

The Best Root-Beer Float I have ever had http://www.nickelbrook.com

I passed by one tent, where a chef had his head down, focusing on de-boning a large piece of (sustainable!) salmon, while he taught his inspired audience about gravlax.

I spotted “ You’ll love the taste of our balls” on a big chalkboard, and knew it must be Chef Rodney Bowers. He will soon open Toronto’s first Meatball-oriented (and late-night!) restaurant, Hey, Meatball. Like last year, he had his music blaring as he danced in front of his grill, where he grilled buns and ladled bright red tomato sauce over his moist ‘balls. There was a long line to get a meatball (4 tickets) – a great sign of things to come! I was handed my meatball and decided this was no standing matter. I found a quiet spot on the grass, leaned up against the beautiful stone fort wall, and mowed down. The sauce had soaked the inside of the bun, but the bun stood its ground and kept it together. The moist meatball was surprisingly light, with perhaps a hint of lemon zest (eh, Rodney, am I close?).

I had been sipping on sparkling water from the water tent, where Q water quadruple filters and carbonates Toronto tap water - a luxurious alternative to store-bought and much more eco-conscious. Q water didn’t have any cups on site, but it was A-OK because it seemed every guest to the event already was carrying a re-usable water bottle (three cheers for us!). I stayed hydrated with some sparkling, but after short ribs, tacos and meatballs, I felt I needed a little something more “refreshing”.

I was drawn to the bright orange tiki head at the Spearhead booth, where their motto is “ Beer without boundaries”. They have introduced a “Hawaiian style” beer, infused with pineapple! This little brewery opened up in 2011 right in Toronto. Each batch takes five weeks to produce, and the result it worth the wait. Their “real beer” is refreshing, light beer with bitter-citrus notes. They don’t pasteurize their product (which keeps the antioxidants up!); it is naturally carbonated; unfiltered (which keeps the beer high in Vitamin B!) and dry-hopped.

Five tokens left and lots more stands to visit. It’s hot out and I take a break under on tent where The Pickling Battle has just begun. Ivy Knight helped to organize the Conscious Food Battle Ground, much like her 86’d nights at The Drake. Local Food Plus’ Partner Services Manager, Chris Trussell, is the MC and getting the crowd quite rowdy. Everyone is smiling and enjoying the friendly competition between the three chefs. First, Tim Pettigrew (of Grindhouse) presents his spicy pickled yellow beans. The audience gets a sample and before last bite, Trussell is handing the microphone around, asking for first impressions. “Spicy!” says one little girl. “ Great for a Caesar” says her mom. Next up is Chef Matt DeMille from Enoteca Sociale, who presents his pickled Ontario ramps (i.e. wild leeks). They are a beautiful purple at the base, fading into white towards the stem. Ever so lightly pickled, the natural sweetness of the ramp shined. The audience cheered and Trussell cheekily asked if people had made up their minds about a winner yet: “ Stand up if you like #1! …And now stand for #2!” Some people stood, and others laughed along, including Chef Bowers, who was ladling his Veggies a la Greque at the side of the tent. Served in a little clear plastic dish, his colourful concoction won the crowd over. He had meticulously pickled each vegetable individually according to its natural sugar content and flavour profile, before combining the carrots, cauliflower, and radish. A la Greque is a quick-pickling method, which means the vegetables don’t become quite so acidic. It is the perfect way to pickle a seasonable vegetable, without compromising its fresh characteristics, to be enjoyed in the summer (a la Greque isn’t true pickling and not a method to use if you want to preserve the summer harvest for the winter months). Rodney proudly held up his prize: a bright green, sparkle-encrusted pickle on a pedestal.

I sipped both kinds (one token each) of Beau’s beer. The seasonal beer, Festivale was amber in colour and a bit too bitter for my taste, but their flagship beer, Lug-Tread was exceptional. Their beers are all organic and produced locally in Ontario.

By this time, I was getting pretty full, so I had to pass on the deep fried sardines from Hooked – but boy they looked good. The cook fried them to order and served them with a spicy tomato aioli. This was under the Ocean Wise tent, a non-profit association that works with and educates restaurants, markets, food services and suppliers about sustainable fish options. With Ocean Wise’s guidance and their knowledge, Hooked sells only the most sustainable fish so that you don’t have to worry about making the unwise choice. If you can’t make it out to Lesliville, (but you should try!), Ocean Wise provides wallet-sized info cards to use as a quick reference when shopping. Red means no, yellow is okay and green means eat!

Ocean Wise says YES to Catfish

The next free sampling…errr I mean food competition was held at 4:45. Dip Domination. First up; Buddha Dog. Now located just in Prince Edward County (The Toronto location has closed, but the dogs are available on Saturday and Sunday at Evergreen Brick Works), the chef sounded off his hot dog dips as I tried to frantically write them all down – pen slipping on drool. They were: red butter jelly; garlic scape pesto; pumpkin papaya jerk…and then I gave up and ate. Delicious. Who doesn’t like hot dogs? Anthony Davis was next, with an artichoke dip on a fried potato chip and topped with shaved Périgord truffle. I didn’t get to taste it. My pals from The Auld Spot had just arrived and were backstage getting their 50 samples ready. Chef Josh Dalton had worked with Sous Chef Rob Clements to create a creamy rillettes of braised short rib, duck fat and truffle which was spread on a thin square of toasted focaccia before I helped out and dripped a drop of white truffle oil over each one (man, I love truffle oil). Darryl, one of the owners, insisted we all go up to hear the winner announced – but not before Trussell asked us each “in 30 seconds or less” to talk about why we got into cooking. It’s funny to see chefs on stage because “we are back of house for a reason!” said Rob. That is, most chefs aren’t the big personality types we see on TV; we just want to cook good food and stay out of the spotlight. My turn came around and I fumbled over my words, but I think I was able to get my point across: Food is about sharing love, and the connection we have to each other, and to the earth.

Produce from The Sweet Potato

There were many more wonderful vendors. To find out more, visit The Conscious Food Festival website.

A big thank you to:

Jessica Brown - for organizing the event

Scott Rondeau and Emma Brown – co founders of the festival

The Grid – for supporting the event and granting everyone free access to the festival on Sunday.

Little suggestion for next year: Maybe for next year we could encourage guests to bring their own plates? Or ask them to re-use plates from stand to stand. Were those beer cups biodegradable?

Learn to Grow Food in Small Spaces

2011-07-20T18:41:00.000-04:00

This wonderful, FREE event will teach you how to grow your very own food on your balcony, rooftop or backyard - no matter how small!

Check it out on Saturday, August 13th from 2-5pm at Eastminster United Church, 310 Danforth Ave, Lower Level

Write to Trace

2011-06-10T16:33:00.001-04:00

I have an idea and I think it’s a pretty great one. I call it Write to Trace. (That’s a play on Rights, as in: the right we have to know where our food came from.) It could be a website, or an iPhone application.

Basically, it is a database that provides information about the origin and journey of the food you are thinking about purchasing. (Of course, if everyone went to farmers’ markets and just talked to the farmer, it would be a lot simpler, but most people would rather shop at large grocery stores for one reason or another.). At the grocery store, you would simply hold your phone up to the produce barcode and a list of information would flow into your hands. You would then be able to make a more informed choice about the produce you are buying, as well as more accurately gauge its ethicality.

The barcode would work the same way as FedEx keeps track of parcels. The Write to Trace application would tell you:

- Where and what time the product left its original origin

- How many miles it has traveled and by what means

- ( so, there could also be a CO2 calculator)

- When it arrived at its final destination

Of course, this would require participation, but with technology so available and accessible, I imagine ( perhaps naively) that it would be as simple as the truck driver scanning the boxes from the farm as they are loaded onto the truck. The scanner could be GPS activated, and so as the truck driver travels, the produce is tracked. At the destination, boxes could be scanned as they were unloaded, and bada-boom there you have it!

I bet Fair Trade programs could use this application, and no doubt 100km foods, Sustain Ontario and Foodland Ontario would be happy to support something that puts the importance of local into a technological, visual medium.

Results would look like this:

Ingredient identified: Tomato

Results: Tomato, SunKissed Farms, New Market

July 3: Hand picked tomatoes are stored for pick up

July 3, 10am: Sent by truck to Loblaws ( 400 miles, ___CO2 emmisions)

July 3, 4pm: Arrive at loblaws.

July 4^:Tomatoes from SunKissed Farms on display

What do you all think?

*January 6th, 2012: Well what do you know: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/food/foodsafety/traceability/agrcultureexamples.htm

Food Competition at Fort York

2011-01-24T14:40:00.000-05:00

For $30, you will receive a tour of Fort York, while learning about the diet of Torontonians 200 years ago. Be assured you will be learning quiet a bit about what it was to eat local.

Next, you may choose between two workshops: Eat Green Through the Seasons and Growing Food Indoors.

Finally, chefs Ted Corrado and Scott Vivian - both proud locavores- will be presented with a secret 1812-era ingredient they must highlight and cook to perfection. All other ingredients used for the competition will be sourced from within 100 miles of the fort.

The winning chef will be crowned Fort York Food Fight Champion and receive a $2500 grand prize!

Date of Event: Saturday, January 29, 1-6 pm
Tickets available by phone (416) 392-6907 ext. 221

Delux is just that

2011-01-22T12:54:00.001-05:00

It has been a few months since chef/co-owner Corinna Mozo introduced her Cuban lunch menu at Delux and already she has the Ossington lunchtime crowd swooning over her authentic food. Looking into the restaurant, I can see one man reading the paper while sipping his Cuban coffee ($2.50) and two ladies sharing a Cuban crème brûlée ($4). I go in, feeling welcomed by the bright warmth of the space.

Natural light pours in through the east-facing windows and bounces off the white-painted brick walls and grey leather banquettes. The décor is minimal and fresh. At the back of the dining room, a woman leans over the dark wooden bar to chat with the bartender. Behind them, a small window into kitchen displays Chef Mozo and her cooks bustling about. Everyone is smiling. Chilled tap water is brought to the table in a large, green bottle and the waiter refills the glasses regularly. The service is attentive and well timed.

The small menu is easy to navigate and reasonably priced. The waiter divulges his favourite item is the fried ripe plantains ($4). We opt for the jicama salad ($9). It comes with matchsticks of jicama and apple and thinly sliced cucumber and radish tossed in a mustard dressing. It is crispy, crunchy and fresh and will no doubt be a hit on hot summer days. The achiote and lime chicken sandwich ($9) is worth every penny. The chicken is moist (they use thigh meat) and the avocado is perfectly ripe. The brioche bun -- made that morning -- is sweet and soft. The calm atmosphere and comforting food eases diners into their seats, where they sit, talk, and eat as time passes unnoticed. Hot doughnuts and coffee ($6) gives the soothed customers the jolt they need to get back to their day; Not that they will be able to focus on anything but the sumptuous meal they just ate.

Cuban Lunch at Delux: Tuesday – Saturday 11:30 to 3pm.

A large table in the back makes this the perfect location for lunchtime business meetings.

(416) 537-0134

info@deluxrestaurant.ca

92 Ossington Ave

Toronto, Ontario

Seasonal Food Guide Tea Towel

2010-12-30T15:45:00.001-05:00

Only one year old, Stuart Gardiner Design products can be found all over the UK. To stay as green as possible, all textiles and prints are produced in East London. And, as most things coming out of East London these days, they are pretty hip. Their t-shirts are cheeky and a bit bizarre - something you'd expect to see at Magic Pony - and so are some of their tea towels. I especially enjoy the Teat Owl Tea Towel and the Gentleman's Handshake.

But a little more serious now. Stuart Gardiner Design also produces a variety of seasonal guides on mugs, aprons and tea towels. You can choose between a seasonal and sustainable guide to British fruits and vegetables; Seafood; Garden flowers; and Wild foods. All production is UK-based, and all cottons are organic in order to keep environmental impact to a minimum. The towels are only £10, and the seasons are fairly similar, so you can still use the tea towel in Canada as a rough guide. (Plus it's a really nice tea towel and you would be supporting the company's green intentions.)

Now we just need someone to make us a Canadian guide to seasonal things, produce it here, and stick it on a tea towel. Perhaps the folks over at Kid Icarus might be interested...

Acquerello is “the Rolls Royce of rice"

2010-12-22T22:59:00.000-05:00

I brought the spoon to my mouth. On it, a few grains of creamy white risotto. The grains held their shape as I played with them between my tongue and the roof of my mouth, rolling them around. The risotto looked like it had been made with only rice and stock. The only ingredient I could discern was rice and so I erroneously expected something bland. The grain itself was so flavourful that I immediately understood the chef’s choice to keep the dish simple: so that the rice could shine. Among the layers of flavour, I tasted notes of toasted nuts, (almost smoky) oak, salty Parmesan and hints of umami (likely from a chicken stock). The dish was so special, so refined to perfection that I was able to keep my composure and eat at an appropriate pace. (Despite being tempted by the sizable flat spoon, which would have made an effective shovel.)

The large, flat plate showcased the single layer of pearly rice – each moist grain covered in a light sauce and dusted with Parmesan. It was far from the sticky, starchy risotto that I’m used to, which made me consider that perhaps the chef had cooked the risotto, rinsed it and then covered it lightly with sauce. If this was the case, the steps were too ingenious to be called cheating. In the centre of the risotto, a small white rectangle of lardo sat atop a small heap of smoked eggplant, encircled by dots of purple lavender oil. Cold and sweet, the lardo added depth; the tangy eggplant brightened the dish; and the lavender brought out the floral notes of the grain. By creating a dish that highlighted the rice so entirely, it was apparent the chef was presenting a product that he admired. He had even written the brand of risotto he had used on the menu: Acquerello.

When I returned home that night I went straight to the computer to find out what exactly made Acquerello risotto so different from any risotto I had ever had.

Risottos and paellas are best made from medium grain rice, which can absorb liquid while remaining firm. Harold McGee explains in On Food and Cooking, that medium-grained rice, which is 2-3 times longer that it is wide, contains less amylose (starch in the centre of the grain) than long-grain rice and therefore requires less water when cooking. The grains are able to cook until tender without becoming starchy. That is, the grains cling to each other, but they don’t stick. The starch content, with the addition of stock, is what creates the sauce for the rice. A well-made risotto should look like pearls of rice within a sauce, not a gluey mash. The starch content and size of Acquerello’s Carnaroli rice are the foundations for a perfect risotto.

Although Arborio may come to mind when searching for rice to make risotto, many risotto lovers prefer Carnaroli or the lesser known, Vialone Nano. Arborio rice makes a stickier, starchier risotto because the grains do not absorb liquid as well. If Arborio is all you can find, superfino is your best option, as its starch content results in a creamy -- not sticky -- risotto. At The French Laundry in California, Chef Thomas Keller cheats a little by folding in a bit of whipped cream to his finished risotto to give it a lighter consistency! Chefs around the world prefer Carnaroli and don’t mind spending a bit more for such a special product. It has been called the “caviar of rice” – and although it isn’t as expensive as caviar, it does cost more than Arborio. Carnaroli is one of the most difficult types of rice to grow, and therefore expensive – compared to other types of rice. The Cheese Boutique sells 500g tins (enough for about 6 portions) of Acquerello for $10.99.

Acquerello means watercolour, a name perhaps inspired by the picturesque Piedmont landscape, where the rice is grown. Just outside of Livorno Ferraris, in the province of Vercelli (the rice capital of Europe), 140 hectares of bright green rice paddies surround the beautiful clay-coloured Colombara estate. In the distance, the white Alps pierce the crisp blue sky. For three generations, this is where the Rondolino family has grown Carnaroli rice for their company, Acquerello.

Acquellero’s Carnaroli rice is organic and environmentally friendly; much of the planting, weeding and harvesting is done by hand. The paddyfields of growing rice provide a thriving ecosystem for including frogs, dragonflies and herons.

In October. ninety percent of Acquerello rice is harvested and aged for one year. The other ten percent is aged for three years. As the raw rice matures in chilled silos, oxygen changes the chemical composition of the outer layer of starch (called amylopectin); the rice becomes less water-soluble, meaning it is able to absorb more liquid. The high amylose content of Carnaroli is like the backbone for the rice – maintaining the grain’s shape as it absorbs all that liquid. The cooked grains are larger than most risotto and far more flavorful. The outer layer contains the most flavour, and so it is important that when the rice is milled, this outer layer is not damaged. Using a method abandoned by many rice cultivators, the Rondolino family uses a propeller to gently tumble the rice, which polishes the rice over ten minutes, as opposed to the rough six second refining method used most often in northern Italy today.

To show off each grain of rice, risotto must be a homogenous dish, with the silky liquid holding together the grains in a single layer. You can achieve this perfect presentation by ensuring you start by toasting your medium-grain rice. Toasting releases the rice’s natural nutty flavour, but it also brings the rice closer to the temperature (70-73°C) required for the starches to lose their crystalline structure in order to absorb more liquid. This temperature differs with both short and long grain rice. It’s not necessary to stick a thermometer into your rice – not at all – but it is important to keep your flavourful stock just below simmering (80°C) in a separate pot so that when you ladle it into your rice, the temperature remains constant. Taste often and season along the way. When the grains still hold their shape, but are no longer crunchy, your risotto is done. Off the heat, add a knob of cold butter and a few tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan to give the risotto a nice sheen, and then call your guests to the table. When you are plating, ladle a scoop in the centre of your plate and smack the bottom of the plate to disperse the risotto into a single layer of rice.

Around the world, Michelin starred and award winning chefs cook with Acquerello rice. Heston Blumenthal, alchemist and chef at The Fat Duck in London, England chooses his risotto rice based on texture, mouth feel, creaminess, and one that is not too sticky. He uses Acquellero risotto to create his perfect risotto: served with toasted rice butter, frozen saffron butter and mushroom powder.

French chef, Alain Ducasse has praised Acquerello as, “the Rolls Royce of rice".

Grown with love (and organically!), Acquerello rice has it all: complex layers of flavour, the perfect starch content, and the approval of chefs around the world. If you cannot find Acquerello, use any brand of Carnaroli rice. As long as it is made with love, your risotto will be perfect.

The Conscious Food Festival Recap

2010-08-17T14:58:00.002-04:00

This past weekend, at the Conscious Food Festival, breweries, wineries, restaurants and farms presented their sustainable products.

Under the shade of a large white tent, a cook from the Ancaster Mill was assembling and handing out juicy pulled pork, wrapped in a Boston (but really Toronto!) lettuce leaf, with a few croutons inside. Genius. The croutons provided the crunch required and the lettuce, the freshness. The rate at which I consumed this wrap is exactly proportionate to the number of saucy drips on my white dress. (note to self: no white dresses in the vicinity of local food consumption)

Chef Jeff Crump brought the Ancaster Mill back to life with his locally grown, and seasonal menu. With his experience passion and constant drive to learn, it is no surprise he has been named one of the most influential chefs in Canada. Chef Crump, along with Ancaster Mill’s pastry chef, Bettina Schorman, have recently ( finally!) opened up The Bread Bar in Hamilton, serving up a golden feast of breads from around the world, made with Canadian ingredients ( Red Fife woot!)

I ate my wrap, one handed, tilting forward to avoid more drips, holding in my left hand a small cup of Mill Street Tankhouse Ale. Brewed right in Toronto, the Tankhouse ale cannot get any more local. Their new Lemon Tea Beer is surprisingly fantastic: it tastes like real brewed tea ( not that sickly canned stuff) with a little aftertaste tang of beer.

Next, I sauntered on over to visit the Harrison family, dishing out pork sausages for Cowbell. Handing my ticket to the assertive 8 year old, I was promptly handed a pork sausage in a soft brioche bun. Loading it up with their homemade sauerkraut and homemade mustard (Fact: Canadian mustard seeds are so great that we export to Dijon. Take that, Dijon mustard!). To be honest, my first bite was a bit strange. The flavour was there: fennel and caraway seed and and perfectly acidic sauerkraut, but the texture seemed…different. I was assured that the texture was what it was meant to be. The sausage was made in a ‘traditional’ way, the filling made up of ground pork and intestine. ( I should have asked: who’s tradition?) I decided I did not like this tradition.

Nevertheless, Cowbell is awesome for supporting locally grown and raised products. On Sunday, August 29^th, Chef Mark Cutrara will create a five course menu with products from Dingo Farms and paired with wine from Fielding Estates. Along with the pork, Chef Cutrara will also be featuring the farm’s beef and lamb. All of their meat is fed non-GMO grains and silage, dry hay and pasture (depending on the season).

Finishing my last bite, and requiring a non-meat intermezzo, I arrived to Rodney Bowers tent. “Chef Bowers” sounds too serious for Rodney, who is rosy-cheeked and shakin’ it to “Walking on Sunshine” behind crates of yellow cherry tomatoes and purple and red-splashed heirloom tomatoes. All chefs should adore their products as much as Rodney does. First teasing me with a yellow cherry tomato- firm and juicy and perfectly ripe- Chef Rodney prepared some bruschetta. After slicing five different types of tomatoes, and ripping up a big handful of basil, Rodney tosses them gently in his left hand, as he pours in olive oil and then a light balsamic with his right. On his wooden cutting board, he piles bruschetta on top of a garlic-rubbed crostini, finishing it with a drizzle of olive oil and a confident pinch of salt. I eat it in three bites. More stains on dress.

By this time, I am gitty, beer-infused and almost full. If I were not allergic, now would be a perfect time for Auld Spot’s oysters: Freshly shucked, plump and juicy.

Instead, I visited Chef Tawfik Shehata, who although smiling, still intimidates me a bit. His intense eyes and furrowed brow oozes passion. At Vertical, he is no-nonsense and runs a tight ship to ensure that all the food is up to his standards. When using beautiful ingredients, the chef’s job is to highlight them, honor them by creating something beautiful. And that’s what Chef Tawfik does.

In a Poplar paper basket, with a Poplar fork, I tried Chef Tawfik’s Ontario tomatoes, oven-dried and sweet, a bit chewy and not at all bitter. Chef Rodney came over to visit us, and to try a sample himself. After gushing over the tomatoes, Rodney moved aside to let some shy foodies try Tawfik’s food. When the chefs weren’t visiting each other’s tents and exchanging food, they were promoting each other. The sense of community and camaraderie made me warm inside...the beer and humidity also helped.

By the time I left, I had forgotten that this festival was the Conscious Food Festival. It wasn’t “eat this because it is local” it was “ here, try this, I grew it and it’s fucking delicious”.

Sun-blushed and delirious with satisfaction, I strolled to work, stopping to buy some Ontario peaches, for my dessert special: Ontario Peach and Crystallized Ginger Caramel cake.

Below is a list of every place mentioned, in the order it was mentioned:

The Ancaster Mill

548 Old Dundas Road

Ancaster, Ontario

905 522 2999

www.ancastermill.com

The Bread Bar

258 Locke Street

Hamilton, Ontario

905 648 1828

www.breadbar.ca

Mill Street Brewery

55 Mill Street

Toronto, Ontario

416 681-0338

http://www.millstreetbrewery.com

Cowbell

1564 Queen Street West

Toronto, Ontario

416 849-1095

www.cowbellrestaurant.ca

Dingo Farms

Dennis and Denise Harrison

Bradford, Ontario

905 775-5520

www.dingofarms.com

Fielding Estate Winery

4020 Locust Lane

Beamsville, Ontario

905 563-0668

www.fieldingwines.com

The Auld Spot

347 Danforth Avenue,

Toronto, Ontario

416 406-4688

633 College Street

Toronto, Ontario

416 645-0285

www.auldspot.ca

Vertical

First Canadian Place

100 King Street West

Toronto, Ontario

416 214-2252

www.verticalrestaurant.com

Ontario Peach and Crystallized Ginger Caramel Cake

2010-08-13T17:18:00.001-04:00

drool.

I found a recipe for a Spicy Pear Tart and was inspired. Since we had a basket of ripe Ontario peaches in our fridge ( hiding from the fruit flies), and since I love crystallized ginger, I thought that I would do a little experimenting. It turned out gooey, spicy, sticky and sweet. In one word: Delicious.

Here is the recipe, step by step, with pictures ( yay!):

1. Preheat your oven to 300F/ 150 C. Wrap the outside of your 10 inch springform pan with 2 layers of aluminum foil ( necessary holder-in of caramel goodness). No need to grease or flour the inside.

2. In a small pot, melt together:
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup ( one stick) butter

Stir every so often, and after about 5 minutes, it should look like caramel...because that is what it will be. Hooray! If it looks like the butter isn't stirring into the melted sugar ( mmmm) then take it off the heat and stir it vigorously with a whisk or fork ( but be careful! Hot sugar = bad burns) until it is one homogeneous mixture of goodness.

Pour into your springform pan and continue on with step 3.

3. In a medium sized bowl, combine the following:
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt

4. In another medium sized bowl, whisk together:
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil

Then stir in:
- 1 peach, chopped up into little pieces
- 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely diced

5. Pour your dry ingredients into your egg mixture and stir just until combined.

6. Spoon the mixture over the caramel and smooth it into an even surface using a spatula. On top, arrange attractively:
- 4 peaches, sliced

7. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then, turn down the heat to 250 F/ 120 C and bake for another 20 minutes. When the edges are bubbling and the centre is visibly cooked, take it out of the oven. Let it cool for 5 long minutes and then present proudly, stomach grumbling, with a creme anglaise ( or to cheat, melt some vanilla ice cream) zig-zagged across the plate before placing down the slice.

Green in the GTA

2010-08-08T11:27:00.000-04:00

Here is a fantastic site to keep updated with all the green events going on in the Greater Toronto Area.

Click here: http://greengta.ca/

When it's too hot for Guinness, grab a Flying Monkey

2010-07-28T23:16:00.000-04:00

I am a writer, cook, and a lover of Guinness.

This week, I have been mostly just sweaty and thirsty.

I like Guinness. A lot. When Guinness isn’t available, I drink O’Haras Celtic Stout. A few degrees hotter, I drink Mill St. Tankhouse Ale. I like my beer to taste warm with spice but there is no room for cloves and cinnamon when it is pushing 35˚C in the downtown core. That is a fact. The result is that I was thirsty for a full week - before I found Flying Monkeys' Hoptical Illusion.

My predicament is that I really do not like the typical hot weather beers. Steam Whistle and Corona? Blech. I like beer that tastes nutritious.

When it’s too hot to eat, a swig of Hoptical Illusion will fill those pangs of hunger with salubrious bitter spice and refreshing hoppy tang. This “Almost Pale Ale” will quench your thirst when it is too hot for Guinness. Once quenched, look under the cap for messages like, “ May the beer be with you” and “ Carpe Beerum. Seize the Beer”.

The taste, the packaging and the fact that it is local makes me smile. You should try this beer.

The Toronto Beer Festival will be running from August 5th until the 8th and the guys from Flying Monkeys will be there.

Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery is located in Barrie, Ontario (Yay local! Yay independent!)

A case of 6 beers (5% alcohol) is $12.95, available at the LCBO. Look for the wild packaging.

Contest! Win $100 market bucks!

2010-07-05T17:51:00.000-04:00

Ontario's Greenbelt spreads luciously across Ontario. Our greenbelt provides growing space for more than 60 farmers' markets and 100 on-farm markets.

Five lucky winners will win $100 of market bucks!

Just visit www.greenbeltfresh.ca and click on the contest entry tab on the lower right of the window.

Good luck!

Contest ends August 2nd and winners will be called mid-August.

August produce you can look forward to:

apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, nectarines, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, cantaloupe, muskmelon, other melons, baby bokchoy, bok choy, tomatoes (field), sweet corn, cucumber (field), snow peas, green/yellow beans, cabbage, Nappa (Chinese cabbage), cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, radishes, onions, green onions, celery, lettuce, radicchio, rapini, kale, spinach, peppers (field), squash/pumpkin, potatoes, leeks, zucchini, eggplant, swiss chard, basil, garlic, mushrooms

Mole Poblano!

2010-06-28T12:50:00.000-04:00

*Makes 1 L of mole -- enough for 6 servings over meat or veg.

The following recipe will be featured in Spezzatino's chocolate issue, along with two pieces I wrote ( one about mole and the other about the history of drinking chocolate. Stay tuned).

Here is my recipe, my concotion which is based on the abuela's tips and the ingredients she had gathered for me when I visited The Latin American Emporium in Kensington Market.

Not all moles are made with chocolate, but mole poblano is. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 mulatto*

1 ancho*

1 guajillo*

1 pasilla*

*all of the above are whole, dried chilies. Before cooking with them, wipe them with a moist towel to remove any dust or soil.

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

4 Roma tomatoes

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ tbsp salt

¼ cup blanched and skinned almonds, roughly chopped

¼ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup pumpkin seeds

1 generous pinch of ground cinnamon

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 plantain, sliced into 1cm thick coins

4 cloves garlic

½ white onion

10 grams dark chocolate (I used 90% cocoa)

Instructions

1. Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the 4 chilies and heat on both sides until the skin begins to blister.

2. Transfer the chilies to a medium-sizes bowl and cover with cold water. Let soak until softened, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile…

3. Cut the peppers and tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds. Toss them in 1tbsp vegetable oil and salt and place them skin side up on a baking tray. Bake them under a medium-hot broiler for about 20 minutes, or until tender.

4. Wipe your skillet with a dry cloth. Over medium heat, toast almonds until golden. Put into a bowl and repeat with the sesame and then pumpkin seeds. Set aside together in a bowl with the cinnamon.

5. Wipe your skillet with a dry cloth again, and add 2 tbsp oil. Over medium-high heat, add the plantain. Flip them over once the bottom is golden brown and cook on the other side for 1 minute. Put half on a plate to cool, and eat the other half immediately*.

*This recipe only needs half a fried plantain, but you might as well cook up the whole things while you’re at it. They are so delicious once fried that it makes the perfect mid-recipe snack.

6. How are your peppers and tomatoes doing? If they are done, just let them cool somewhere until you’re finished with steps 7 through 10.

7. Using the flat side of your knife, smash the garlic and puree. (Check out Spezzatino Volume 9: Garlic, page 84 for tips.).

8. Roughly chop your white onion.

9. By now, your kitchen will be a little messy and your chilies sufficiently soaked and softened. If they aren’t soft yet, you’ve got to wait a little longer before you move onto the next step. Maybe take that time to clean up a bit? Or have some tequila to get into the Mexican mood….

10. Holding them above the bowl, one by one, remove the seeds and the stem of your chilies and place them on a cutting board once cleaned. Roughly chop them up.

11. Chop up your chocolate.

12. Add everything into your blender: peppers, tomatoes (plus any liquid on that baking tray), onion, the bowl of seeds and almonds, garlic, plantain, your chilies and the chocolate.

13. Puree until smooth.

14. Have a taste and add a bit of salt if you think it needs it. Let the layers of bitter, sweet, hot and smoky play over your tongue. Well done -- you have now made mole! Place in a jar to save for later, or heat gently and serve with turkey, chicken, pork or vegetables.

How I Grocery Shop: LOFT

2010-06-11T15:06:00.000-04:00

First, I try to shop LOCAL:

Toronto has some fabulous markets and, if you are willing to travel so that your food doesn't have to, there are markets almost every day of the week. For information about what markets are near you, visit: Farmer's Markets Ontario. Making the trip to your farmer's market each week ensures your food is local and seasonal -- the most sustainable way to eat. Although local doesn't necessarily mean certified organic, that doesn't mean the products are not. Organic certification is costly and so many farmers farm organically but cannot advertise they do so. The wonderful thing about a farmer's market is that most of the time the farmers are there. If you have questions, just ask! Remember that you are the customer and the farmers want you to enjoy their product. If you tell them you are interested in organic, I can guarantee they will go the length to make you happy. It is so satisfying to be connected to your food. You can serve a meal and say, "This red-wine braised osso bucco was from an Ontario calf raised by Gerald from Twin Creeks". It's ok to be a bit smug when you are proud of your food.

If I need groceries, and no Ontario products are available - and I absolutely need the ingredient - then I will make sure it is ORGANIC ( and GMO free, which now must be labeled by law in the UK. Hopefully Canada follows suit soon):

Pesticides are for mass production, and a cheap alternative to a bit of labor. It may mean your arugula has a few more holes in it, but it will be a healthier plant, that has grown naturally defend itself against bugs ( not "pests" ! ). We have to become more aware that food isn't perfect: Not every carrot is the same size, apples get bruised and there is no such thing as a grapple. Organic produce is a bit more expensive than a mass produced food, but you must realize that our notion of food costs have been severly altered. When you can buy a whole McMeal for $5, a bag of organic carrots at $3 seems expensive. But think about it from the farmer's perspective. Someone has sowed those seeds, tended to the plants, cared for them, pulled them from the ground and packaged them. The farmer won't even see the whole $3 -- much of that cost will go to the supermarket ( which can be avoided if you buy local). Also think of it from a food perspective. When oua re eating a carrot, you are eating something wonderful, natural and full of vitamins and minerals. A fast food meal will be made for 20 or more food products so deconstructed and reconstituted that they cannot even be called food anymore ( i.e. McThis and McThat)

Finally, if there isn't anything local and there isn't an organic option available, I choose FAIR TRADE:

Fair trade is absolutely necessary for products like coffee ( you must watch Black Gold!) and bananas. When you buy Fair Trade, you are supporting:

1. Environmental standards which focus on reducing the risk associated with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers as well as decreasing environmental degradation
2. Fair, consistent wages and safe working conditions for the workers in developing countries
3. Social premiums for communities in developing countries to provide infrastructure such as education and health care on their own, reducing their dependence on foreign assistance.

I hope next time you do your grocery shopping, you have LOFT in mind.

Grow Some Beans

2010-06-05T14:14:00.003-04:00

Beans may not always have the best reputation, but they really are something to honor. They are little fighters -- producing pod after pod of nutritious beans from now until the fall. Think of how proud you would be to serve a bean salad made entirely from beans you harvested! And when you have had enough of beans -- because every morning you will have more pods ready to pick -- then you can shell the pods and lay the beans on a tray to dry in the sun. Once dry, pour them into some jars.

Come winter your pantry will be fully stocked and ready for all your winter comfort foods. You may not be craving a bubbling hot cassoulet now, but when you do, you'll be prepared.

How to Grow Your Own Beans
Beans are wonderful because just one plant can produce so many pods. This means if you live in an apartment, you can grow your beans on your porch, or by a window. Direct plant them. Beans don't like to be transplanted, so where you plant them it where they shall stay. Sow the seeds this week and in about 75 days you will have bean plants with pods beginning to appear in plenty. Let pods dry on the plant -- they should feel papery and come off the branch easily. Shell them and lay the beans on a tray in the sun to dry out. Once dry, after a day in the sun, jar them.

It's time to grow some beans!

Click here for more information about beans
Click here for more information about how to plant them.

How to Cook Your Own Beans
The night before you are planning to eat your beans, put 1 part beans to 5 parts cold water in a large container. One cup of dried beans yields about 3 cups cooked. NEVER add salt at this time; Salt does something funny to beans and stops them from absorbing water ( it's an osmosis thing). Leave your beans overnight. The next morning, drain and rinse your beans. Add beans to a pot with water (same ratio of as before). Once the water comes to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Ok, *now* you can add your flavours ( bay leaf, salt, peppercorns, carrots, celery, or whatever you feel like). Continue simmering for about another 40 minutes. When the beans are tender, they are ready. Drain but don't rinse. Even if you are making a cold bean dish, add the dressing when the beans are still warm. They will soak up the dressing and be super delicious. If you need them to cook down fast, lay them on a cling film-lined baking tray.

Other Benefits of Growing Your Own Beans:
- Canned beans are cheap, but not as cheap as dried beans!
- Canned beans have tons of salt
- Canned beans require cans, therby creating more waste
- Canned beans are heavy, and so transporting them uses a large amount of pollution
...and most importantly:

- You get to be close to your food: See it grow and appreciate it that much more

Photo of Trionfo Violetto beans by S. Irene Virbila

Live Green Toronto: my favourite source for green information

2010-06-02T16:42:00.001-04:00

This site is easy to navigate and very informative. Live Green Toronto makes it easy to be green:
Check for rebates for being green, see how to get your neighbourhood and school involved, and keep updated with local Green events.

http://www.toronto.ca/livegreen

Gardening in May/June

2010-05-23T15:37:00.001-04:00

On a beautiful sunny afternoon in late May or early June, do some gardening.

Beans - Plant seeds 1 1/2 - 2" deep in soil. Harvest in 60 days.

Beets - Plant seeds 1/2" deep in soil. Harvest in 40-70 days.

Cucumbers - Plant seesd 1" deep. Cucumbers will creep over your garden, so don't plant anything else within 3 feet. Harvest in 2-3 months.

Peppers - Set the small plants (without fruit or flowers!) in warm soil 1/2" deep. If the soil is too high in nitrogen, then you will end up with lots of plant and few peppers. Don't plant them next to other nightshades ( tomatoes, eggplant, etc), as they can all contract the same diseases. Harvest in 4 months.

Pumpkin - They grow and grow and crawl over everything, so plant them in an area where they have room to spread. Plant the seeds 3-4" deep and harvest in 4-5 months.

Tomato plants - Get those tomato plants in now, as in this week! Plant them deep in the soil. One nifty trick is to plant them close to marigolds, which will keep the aphids away.