Posts tagged ‘Seasonal Produce’

September 27th, 2011

The Art of Simple Food and Good Company

This post is part of A Return to Loveliness.

This past week my best friend and her French boyfriend were visiting from France. On Saturday we had such a delicious meal that I just have to share the details with you. All the food was pretty simple, using fresh ingredients, but it was a feast fit for kings—simply good food goes best with good company! The best part was that we each had our signature dish.

Appetizer: Amy’s Experiment

PC La Belle Rivière or Brie or Camembert

Thinly sliced apple

Chopped walnuts

Crusty bread

Preheat oven (we used a toaster oven) at 350F.  Slice bread, place on cookie sheet and top with apple slices, walnuts, and cheese wedges. Toast in oven on low rack until cheese is melted and the bread is slightly toasted (and crispy!).

We served this bread with a salad of baby romaine, spinach, chopped apples, walnuts, avocado, and honey-mustard dressing.

The bread was a real hit. I liked it so much I made again for lunch the next day and took a picture.

Entrée: Fabrice’s Beets and My “Perfectly Cooked” Trout with Rice

French Beets (can make in advance)

Boil or roast beets (we boiled due to time constraints), cool. Peel and chop beets. Add dressing below.

Approximate measurements (experiment to suit your own tastes)

1/4 cup olive oil 

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp finely diced onion

(BTW, this dressing also tastes great with cooked green beans.)

My Perfect Trout

Apparently I have a talent for cooking fish! The French guests were impressed! So here’s my tips for cooking trout or salmon.

3 pieces trout (deboned, with skin).

Olive oil

Half a lemon, sliced

Fresh herbs (I had oregano)

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. On cookie sheet, lay down aluminum foil. Place fish, skin-side down on foil. Built up edges of foil around fish to create a bowl for the juices. Drizzle olive oil over the fish. Add seasonings and herbs, top with lemon slices. Cook on middle rack for 15 – 20 minutes (10 mins if fish is thin). At the 15 minute point, remove from oven, check to see if it’s still raw under the lemon slices, if so, move lemon slices to another part of the fish, and cook for another 5 – 10 minutes. If you remember, check the fish in 5 minutes. The fish is ready when it gently flakes away from the fork and is no longer raw inside but still has some juices (it continues to cook a bit on its own). Serve immediately with rice and the beets. We simply had soy sauce with the rice.

The Dessert

After our bellies digested the meal, we had apple crisp and vanilla ice cream for dessert. My apple crisp was well-received too! That’s because I didn’t forget my crisp secret: double the crisp topping! It makes for a thicker, caramel-like topping.

I am sad to see my friends gone, but we have a delightful memory to share until we get to sit around a dinner table again (maybe next time it will be in France–oh, I can dream).

CategoryDessert, Fish, Food, Recipes, Salad, Seasonal Produce, Vegetables | Comment7 Comments »

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August 24th, 2011

Blueberry Meditations with Recipes

 

It’s easy to find garden metaphors that relate to life. For instance, right now my blueberries are ripening and ready for picking—BUT, that doesn’t mean every blue berry is ready, you have to look underneath, sometimes they’re still a little pink or white and need more time; therefore, you can’t reach up for a greedy handful. In life, we can be too greedy and end up coming away with something a little sour.

The time to prune blueberries is late winter, when rest and rejuvenation is nearing its end in preparation for spring (rebirth, new beginnings and all that new-agey stuff). The problem is, in late winter, when all branches are bare and grey, it’s hard to tell the difference (for an untrained eye) what needs to be pruned and what doesn’t. This year I thought of a trick. While I pick the berries, I bring along coloured tape to mark any branches that will need to be pruned later. Sometimes we do this in life.  We mentally mark all that needs to change but we aren’t always ready to prune just yet, to do so would be too early and could cause damage to the rest of our lives.

Picking blueberries is a favourite summer activity of mine. It is peaceful and meditative (except when the deer flies find you!). My bushes provide in abundance (my freezer is already stuffed) supplying us with frozen berries all winter long. I feel gratitude with every berry that gets picked. Each is a mini prayer that passes through my fingers, like the beads on a mala, to the bucket.

A classic blueberry dessert recipe is Blueberry Crisp. I don’t need to retype such a recipe, just use any basic one (like this one) as long as you remember this tip: DOUBLE the crisp topping! It makes all the difference when using such juicy berries.

For something a little healthier, but just as tasty, try Decadent Coconut Milk Whipped Cream with Berries and Maple Syrup. Adapted from Mark’s Daily Apple. (BTW, this is a primal food site, so doubling the crisp topping on the first recipe would be a big no-no!). The only thing I changed was to leave out the chocolate and drizzled some maple syrup on top instead.

Saving the best for last. OMG, this was amazing! Best salad ever. I guess dairy really does make things taste better :) Adapted from Pioneer Woman’s Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta, Fresh Corn, and Blueberries (I had roasted chicken on the side).

Blueberry, Feta and Corn Salad (Serves 2)

Ingredients

  • Enough lettuce greens for two
  • 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/8  red onion, finely diced
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 2 tbsp fresh dill, minced (DO NOT omit the dill, it makes the dish!)
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp plain yogurt
  • 1/8 cup whipping cream
  • Juice from ½ a lemon
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • ½ (or so) cup crumbled feta
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Combine onion, corn, and dill.

For the dressing, mix together mayonnaise, yogurt, HALF the feta, and cream. Stir in sugar, lemon juice, add salt and pepper to taste. Add a few tablespoons of dressing to corn mixture to coat.

Assemble the greens on two plates. Top with corn mixture. Add blueberries. Drizzle more dressing over top and end with a generous “sprinkle” of feta.

Soooooo good. I could eat a whole meal of just the salad. Seriously, try this right now.

CategoryDessert, Gardening, Recipes, Salad, Seasonal Produce | Comment3 Comments »

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August 19th, 2011

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

We’ve been eating a lot of green beans lately as the garden is keeping me in fresh supply. Then last week my mother brought me a huge bag of them from her garden. Just what I needed, more green beans! Those beans were promptly blanched and frozen for future use. I’m getting a little tired of green beans, a sure sign that their time is soon up in the garden (I have got to try succession planting next season to avoid having too much of a good thing all at once!)

Q: How to make all those green beans (and yellow beans) palatable for yet another night?

A: A cup of dairy helps the vegetable go down.

I try not to eat large amounts of dairy. With the exception of yogurt, I tend to treat dairy as a condiment—a sprinkling of parmesan here, a few crumbles of goat cheese there. But you can’t deny the comfort factor of large amounts of ooey, gooey cheese. So tonight, cheese came to the rescue, saving us from another boring serving of steamed or raw green beans.

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

3 cups cut green beans

1 small onion, chopped

2 tbsp butter

1 cup 2% milk

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 pieces whole wheat or whole grain bread, toasted and cooled.

To make bread crumbs, crush the toast in a zip lock bag with a rolling pin. Leave about half of the bread in crouton-sized pieces. Set aside.

Boil the green beans in salted water for 10 – 15 minutes. Set the oven to 350F. Meanwhile, sauté the onion in 1 tbsp butter until tender. Add the onions to a casserole dish.

To make cheese sauce, use a small heavy saucepan, melt 1 tbsp of butter over low heat. Add flour, salt and pepper. Stir until evenly combined, ensuring there are no lumps. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk until blended. Over medium heat, continue to stir the sauce until thick and bubbly. Reduce heat to low and add ¼ of the cheese. Stir until melted. Set aside.

Drain the beans when ready, add to casserole dish along with the sauce. Stir well to combine. Sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly on top, followed by the rest of the cheese.

Cook for 20 minutes.

Makes 4 small side dish servings (with no seconds!) or 2 main dish servings.

(Stayed tuned for West Dover hike photos and Blueberry recipes–not at the same time!)

CategoryRecipes, Seasonal Produce, Vegetables | Comment3 Comments »

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