If you’re on Pender Island this weekend, be sure to stop by the Farmers’ Market on Saturday:

1. I’ll be there serving Pender Pulled Lamb on Homemade Flatbreads with Veggies and Tzatziki  — look for my table around the side of the community hall — beside the lounge.
2. I’ll be there serving Fresh Falafel on Homemade Flatbreads with Veggies & Tzatziki.
3. A percentage from all my sales go to support Pender Island’s Community Hall — now in its 10th year!
4. There will be fresh produce and eggs from Hope Bay, Whalewhych and other farms — come early it goes fast…

   

5. There will be A TON of really great crafts, preserves & baking — so many talented people on 1 little island!

Sometimes, when it’s really, really hot, a crazy cool-down idea will take shape around here.

Like injecting a watermelon with vodka — circa Lollapalooza ’93 — which is the last (and more age-appropriate) time I considered using a syringe to introduce alcohol into fruit.  Back then it was a scheme to get booze past the festival gate checkpoint — a scheme we never got around to actually attempting…

Fast forward 17 years later, to the peak of this week’s heatwave:  I bought a syringe and the biggest, ugliest horse needle you’ve ever seen at the pharmacy.  Then I went around the corner to the Liquor Store and picked up a bottle of Absolut Pear.

I figured at 40 it’s not good enough to just inject vodka into a watermelon.  No, no, no.  At this ripe age, a little sophistication is required — sophistication in the form of pear-infused-vodka-infused watermelon — served as little balls.  Oooh…la, la.

Howard and I had some fun trying to inject our little 3 lb watermelon.  The first squeeze went in fine, but when we moved the needle, the second injection came squirting out of the hole left by the first — seriously.  Very 3 Stooges.

Plan B:   Use an apple corer to pull a plug out of one end, then invert in a strainer in the fridge overnight to drain.  The next morning, use a wooden skewer to poke holes, or “vodka channels”, downward and outward towards the rind,  into the length of the flesh exposed by the apple corer.

Using a funnel, pour vodka in the hole to fill.  Stabilize the watermelon in a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours.  The vodka will absorb into the flesh and drain into the holes you poked with the skewer.  After 2 hours, top up the vodka and return to the fridge.  Repeat until the vodka is no longer absorbed.

Drain any vodka remaining in the hole and chill in the fridge until cold.  Serve, sliced into wedges or melon balled into, well, balls.

1.  Soba Shots in Frozen Asian Flavoured Double Strength Chicken Consomme

I think my timing is a little better on this post than my last one — if I had checked the weather forecast before I published on Monday, I would have seen this heatwave coming, and not suggested a Wilted Spinach & Oyster Mushroom Salad with Warm Goat’s Cheese Dressing.

That said, I originally posted the Frozen Soba Shots above in April, when a warm spinach salad probably would have been the more appropriate choice in the cool spring sun.

I could change the name of this blog to Seasonal Food Anachronisms, or I could just get a grip and start posting stuff at the right time, and in the right order…in that spirit, I give you 5 great chilled soups to cool down the summer heat:

2.  Jamie Oliver’s Tomato Consomme

3.  Anne Burrell’s Chilled Asparagus Soup with Goat Cheese

(photo by Chiot’s Run)

4.  Chilled Cucumber, Avocado & Buttermilk Soup from the LA Times

5.  Chilled White Bean Soup with Pesto

This recipe is a starting point…I love that it’s not a puree like almost all other cold soups out there, and I think it would be stellar with the addition of some preserved lemon (or lemon zest), and some parmesan in the pesto.

Summertime is salad-for-dinner time.  Am I right?

So what do you do when, 2 weeks after summer solstice, the sun has appeared for a total of 3 1/2 hours, and dinner on the deck means long pants and long sleeves?

I figured if I had to wear a sweater, then the salad probably needed a warm-up too.  And as I found out, cashmere isn’t the only goat product with excellent thermal properties.

Mushrooms and spinach are great seasonal picks at this time of year.

Spinach from a farmer’s market is a little different than the pre-washed-in-a-bag-variety, so take your time washing it.  Remove the spinach from the water in (gentle) handfuls to avoid pouring the gritty water back over the greens when you drain them.

Oyster mushrooms are fragile — except for those thick stems.  Trim and discard, or add them to a stock you may have on the go.  Morels are another seasonal mushroom option that would work well in this salad.

This recipe reads as more complicated and involved than it actually is.  Just ensure you do all of your prep before you start cooking, and cook everything on medium or a bit lower, so that the pace is manageable.  If you prefer to omit the bacon, simply substitute the bacon fat with olive oil.

Seasoning salad greens with a little s+p builds flavour.  It takes a homemade salad to a home run salad — try it.

Wilted Spinach & Oyster Mushroom Salad with Warm Goat`s Cheese

Yield:  4 first-course or 2 main-course servings

oz=ounces         g=grams       t=teaspoon       T=tablespoon
ml=millilitres    TT=to taste

Prep:

• Trim the stems from the spinach, and wash in lots of clean, tepid water.  Spin or towel dry, put in a large salad bowl and toss with s+p.  Set aside.
• In a small jar with lid, combine the crumbled goat’s cheese, vinegar, sugar and a pinch of s+p.  Shake well to combine.
• Trim the large, tough stems from the mushrooms and discard.  Smaller stems are tender and can be left on.  Tear the large mushrooms into strips and leave the small ones whole.
• Cut the bacon crosswise into ½” pieces.

Cooking:

Heat the olive oil in a small saute pan over med. heat until shimmering.  Add the mushrooms and cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute.  Gently stir the mushrooms and continue to cook until they have released their water and it has evaporated from the pan.  Pour in the wine, and simmer rapidly until the pan is almost dry.  Reduce the heat to med. low, add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 2 minutes more.  Remove the pan from the heat and cover to keep warm.

While the mushrooms cook, heat another small (preferably cast iron) pan over medium heat.  Fry bacon until just crisp.  Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on towelling.  Reduce the heat to med. low, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat, and sweat the onions until they soften (do not brown).  Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the goat’s cheese dressing.  Stir until the cheese is melted and smooth.

Assembly:

Combine the mushrooms, bacon and dressing with the spinach, and toss gently.  Working quickly, divide the salad on plates and garnish with cracked pepper.  Serve immediately.

I just can’t help but picture Tiny Tim singing “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” when I look at this picture — Koda, on the other hand, takes these things far too seriously.  Geez, can’t even take a joke…

I wandered over to Pender Island’s own Morning Bay Vineyard on Saturday to join in the celebrations — co-founders Barbara Reid and Keith Watt put on a party to celebrate the winery’s 5th Anniversary.

We were treated to some new wines and enjoyed some great food and music.  Congratulations to Keith, Barbara and staff — and thanks for putting on the party!

Here`s Barbara preparing herself to receive the masses at the tasting table.  Barbara and Keith presented us with 3 Fifth Anniversary Releases on the day:

2009 Morning Bay Bianco – An aromatic blend of 5 grapes grown here on Pender.  I took a bottle of this fresh taste/smooth finish home with me.  Howard and I enjoyed it with some wings, asparagus and garlic scapes from the charcoal grill.  Keith recommends pairing this with local seafood — the grapes are grown seaside, after all.

2009 Morning Bay Chiaretto – Described as crushed strawberries in a glass. A blend of 3 Pender grown grapes, made in a Blanc-de-Noir fashion (white wine from red grapes).  This is not that Kool-Aid blush wine from the 80`s, a la Crockett and Tubbs — it`s a seriously enjoyable wine.

2006 Morning Bay Syrah – A rich barrel-aged red wine in the Rhone fashion.  Smokey Oak and savoury spice.  A recommended pairing for barbecued meats.

Chef Seamus from Birdie`s Bistro at The Pender Island Golf & Country Club was in charge of the day`s food.  Flank steak and local lamb fresh off the grill, vegetable sides full of flavour and foccacia to scoop everything up.  Delicious, if just a bit messy…(we`re on Pender after all — disposable cutlery is frowned upon…)

Here`s the winery barrel room, complete with piano.  Weddings, dinner parties, art exhibits and musical benefits have all been held among the barrels…

Here’s one section of the vineyard…apparently, Keith and Barbara have been doing some wishful dreaming with regards to taking off on the open water…perhaps they’ve had enough of tying off the vines!

I hope not, because they are wonderful hosts and we sure wouldn’t want to lose them…perhaps you will join me next year for anniversary #6?

Until then, check their website for tasting and tour information.

]]> http://islandvittles.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/happy-birthday-morning-bay-vineyard/feed/ 2 Theresa morning-bay-2009-bianco tasting-table-morning-bay-pender-island chef-seamus musicians-morning-bay piano-amongst-barrels vines- http://islandvittles.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/strawberry-shots-for-canada-day/ http://islandvittles.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/strawberry-shots-for-canada-day/#comments Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:58:44 +0000 Theresa http://islandvittles.com/?p=2711 ]]>

My intention was celebratory shot glasses made from meringue.  The final result was more like clay pots.  I kinda dig them though — and as a strawberry coulis delivery device, they performed brilliantly.

My last little sweet bite — Lemon Drops — were 1 perfect bite.  These guys are a little bigger, so it’s more of a 2 bite scenario.  But the potential for mess is small, as the chilled coulis is thick enough to hold in the curve of the pot while you finish that first sweet mouthful…

Make a batch of strawberry and a batch of blueberry, and you’ve got yourself Red White and Blue Shots for July 4th…

Strawberry Shots for Canada Day (makes about 24 1½” shots)

Meringue Pots

g=grams               C=cup                   t=teaspoon

Preheat oven to 250° F and move the rack to the centre of the oven.

In a standing mixer, beat the whites on med. low speed until frothy.  Increase to high speed; add the cream of tartar and salt and beat until soft peak stage.  With the machine running, add the sugar ¼ cup at a time.  Beat to stiff peak stage, watching as it gets close.  Be careful not to overbeat.

Using a large spoon or bowl scraper, drop the meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a ¼” tip (#802).  Line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.  Pipe a coil bottom about 1½” in diameter, then continue to pipe the sides of the pot in one continuous circular movement, until they’re about 1½” high.  Fill the baking sheet with pots, leaving a little room between each one.

Bake on the center rack for 2 hours, turning the tray halfway through.  Turn the oven off without removing the meringues, and allow them to sit for another hour.  Remove from the oven and cool on racks.

Strawberry Coulis

lb=pound            g=grams               TT=to taste

Puree the strawberries in a food processor.  Strain the puree through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.  Mix in sugar and lemon juice to taste.  (Amounts will depend on berry type and ripeness.)

Chill, covered until ready to use.

Fill the cooled meringues with the coulis using a small spoon, or squeeze bottle.  Serve immediately.

Tips:

• To make superfine sugar, process granulated sugar for about 30 seconds.
• Do not make these too far in advance.  The coulis will soak into the meringue.  I would like to try mixing in a bit of gelatine or agar agar into the coulis, and setting it in the meringues in the fridge – this may solve the soakage problem – and result in more of a jello meringue pop…let me know if you try it!

]]> http://islandvittles.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/strawberry-shots-for-canada-day/feed/ 9 Theresa strawberry-meringue-shots vancouver-island-strawberries piped-meringue strawberry-coulis-meringue http://islandvittles.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/top-five-friday-garlic-scapes/ http://islandvittles.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/top-five-friday-garlic-scapes/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:01:44 +0000 Theresa http://islandvittles.com/?p=2686 ]]>

If you’ve been out at a Farmer`s Market in the last couple of weeks, you`ve probably seen bundles of these little curly-cues for sale.  Known as garlic greens, flowers or scapes – they are harvested from the tops of garlic plants at this time of yearby many growers in order to send all of the sun`s energy to the bulb developing under the soil.

Love the look and idea of these things but unsure how to use them?

Well, it’s Top Five Friday, so here are my 5 best ideas for incorporating garlic scapes into your everyday cuisine…

Garlic scapes have a mild garlic flavour that is slightly sharp when raw, but that mellows when cooked…just like garlic cloves.  To use, trim off the flower end, as well as any tough bottom ends.  Slice thinly on the bias and toss raw into salads, or:

1.  Use them like basil and make Garlic Scape Pesto.  Process trimmed scapes, herb of choice (lemon balm, parsley, or cilantro are good choices), parmesan cheese, olive oil, s+p until smooth — serve on pasta, over fish, mix with mayo for sandwiches…

2.  Use them like green beans and make this wonderful dish from Kathy Gori (use 1/2 beans, 1/2 scapes — all scapes would make for a truly garlicky dish…)

3.  Use them like green onions and put a new twist on a classic Spanish dish.  Blanch 6-8″ lengths until crisp tender, then grill until almost limp.  Serve with Romesco Sauce for dipping.

4.  Use them like peas – slice them into 1/4″ rounds and toss into Chinese Fried Rice.

5.  Use them like garlic –  finely mince scapes and shallot, sweat in olive oil, then mix with breadcrumbs, fresh basil, parsley, s+p — stuff into hollowed out tomatoes and bake at 350° F until golden.  Voilà…Tomato Provençal!

 Any other ideas out there?  Love to hear ‘em!

Basking on the deck amongst my herbs and tomato pots,taking advantage of the sun`s brief appearance over the weekend.