Reminiscing about the Summer #1: The Garden

Winter's okay, but summer is my favourite.  I spend so much time working outside, that I have no time to post anything...so making it up by sharing the summer of 2014! 

I maintain a 2 acre garden with a couple girl friends every summer, we split work and we split harvest.  It's a super good deal! Here's a few pics of early summer and then working up to the later part of summer...it was a good growing season.  

Short enough to leap over....

Growing....I couldn't jump this with a pogo stick...

Filling out and in...

Stay tuned for produce pics and recipes for the best salsa ever!

Think warm, summer will be back before we know it!

Free-Form Radish, Cauliflower and Pea Tart

Recently, I've visited a Hutterite colony and been visited by Hutterites. Both instances resulted in the purchase of fresh vegetables, including radishes, a crown of cauliflower, peas, potatoes, beets and a few other things. I've been trying to use up those few pounds of radishes, and though I love radishes, I decided I needed a new way to eat them.

I felt inspired from my childhood by the scene in Faerie Tale Theater's rendition of Rapunzel, in which Shelley Duvall, who plays Rapunzel's mother, consumes a plethora of dishes cooked with special blue radishes. I felt like somehow I had to recreate one of those dishes. Pie. Fondue. Roasted. Fried. Tart!

This was what I came up with, and it was delicious. I might eat the whole thing, just like Shelley Duvall would have.

Free-Form Radish, Cauliflower and Pea Tart   
Crust recipe from America's Test Kitchen Summer Desserts 

For the crust:
1 ½ C flour
½ tsp salt
10 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
4 - 6 tbsp cold water

For the filling:
1 tbsp olive oil
8 - 10 radishes, sliced
¼ head cauliflower florets, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
½ tsp salt
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 - 2 tbsp white wine
1 C peas, fresh or frozen
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
½ C grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375º. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Whisk egg and egg yolk in a small bowl. Set aside.

Mix together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter. Add 4 tbsp cold water, adding up to 2 tbsp more until a soft dough just comes together.

Meanwhile, heat oil on medium-high in a 10-inch nonstick pan until shimmering. Add radishes, cauliflower, onion, and salt. Cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and cook for another few minutes, until vegetables begin to brown slightly. Pour in white wine and stir until evaporated. Add peas and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place dough on parchment paper. Roll out dough until it's about ¼ inch thick. Transfer parchment with pastry back to pan. Brush entire pastry with egg, then pour the rest of the egg into the vegetable mixture and stir around. Pour the vegetable mixture into the centre of the pastry, then spread out, leaving about 2 inches uncovered around the edges. Sprinkle mixture with Parmesan cheese. Carefully fold up the edges of the pastry, folding over and pressing together where necessary to join the edges together.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes, adding additional thyme sprig about 20 minutes into baking. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to plate. Crush roasted leaves of thyme sprig over the tart. Serve.

Progression of a Painting: Gazania

This is the first installment of the Gazania painting. This is probably step 3 or so of the progression. I usually do an under-painting of sepia and turpentine, followed by a sort of rough color, and then I go over again with deeper/brighter colours, and finer details. Then I muck around on it for a while, proclaim it finished a half a dozen times, and finally actually feel satisfied enough with it to move it to its final destination. This one will be ending up with my lovely sister-in-law.

 

I hope to work on this more this afternoon and/or this weekend. 

I still need to work on the details and colour on the upper half/sides of the petals, as well as finish the center and background. Then the random touches as-I-see-them.

More updates to follow.

The Delicious Advantages of Chicken Lard!

After another rainy day with little to do outside, I decided to do some long awaiting food chores.  Here's to rendering freezer-saved chicken fat into lard and crisps.  So, I pulled three bags of chicken fat out of the freezer and dumped it all in a pot.  Heat on medium for a couple hours got me to this stage: 

Then I cooled it off and pour it into jars to store in the fridge for whenever I wanna make something with added deliciousness! 

See how it looks like sunshine in a jar.  That's cause it is.  It adds softness to buns and cookies that you just can't get from anything else.  

Where does it all come from? I butcher my own hens once a year in the fall.  I try to use and save as much as possible: livers, hearts, pockets of fat, of course the meat bird itself, sometimes feathers...and sometimes I trade the gizzards to a hunter who loves them; he gives me goose breasts, which I feel is far better than gizzards.  

Naturally, I made some cookies shortly after this... 

SNICKERDOODLES 

(modified to include "sunshine-in-a-jar"* chicken lard and reduced sugar)

*I quoted myself here.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup melted and slightly cooled, rendered chicken lard*

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Use an electric mixer to beat the butter together with the sugar.  Slowly drizzle the chicken lard into this mixture while beating.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Ditch the mixer, switch to a wooden spoon.  Mix in rest of ingredients.  The dough tastes really good.  Try to resist eating it like crazy.  Roll into cute little 1" balls.  And then roll these balls in a cinnamon sugar mixture.  Like: 

2 Tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon, for example.  

Place on an un-greased cookie sheet.  Into a 400F oven for 7-9 mins.  Do not overcook.  

Makes about 4 dozen. 

And they're awesome.  

* You can substitute the lard for soft butter.  

Whole Wheat Skillet Pizza

I'm never making pizza in the oven again. This skillet pizza thing is AMAZING. It's my latest Best Thing Ever.

This was the easiest pizza I've ever made, and I felt safer making it. Because honestly, sliding and pulling pizzas off the pizza stone in a 500º oven always scares me a bit, especially with small children about.

The following recipe is adapted from Dinner: A Love Story which is a lovely cookbook I got from my sisters-in-law. I'm trying to use it more and more because everything I've made from there has been so good. I found that pizza dough recipe took too long, but I found one in America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook that worked brilliantly.

I made Hawaiian pizzas because our family prefers them, but you can use whatever toppings you like.

This recipe makes two 11"-12" pizzas. I used my 12" Lodge cast iron skillet, but you can use any oven-proof skillet and adjust the pizza size accordingly.

Whole Wheat Skillet Pizza
Pizza Dough from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

For the dough: 
1 C flour + 2 tbsp if needed
1 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
3/4 tsp salt
1½ tsp olive oil
3/4 C warm water (110 degrees)

Toppings:
olive oil
1/4 C pizza sauce
4 oz deli ham, chopped
1 C chopped pineapple
1½ C shredded mozzarella

Turn on oven to warm (170º) for 5 minutes, then turn off and keep the oven door ajar for another 5 - 10 minutes. Grease a large bowl and a piece of plastic wrap. (I hang the plastic wrap off the microwave, spray with PAM and then place the bowl underneath it.)

Meanwhile, pulse 1 C flour, whole wheat flour, yeast and salt in a food processor to combine. With the processor running, pour the oil, then the water, through the feed tube. Process until the dough forms a ball, about 30 - 40 seconds.

Let the dough rest 2 minutes, then process for 30 seconds longer.  If the dough is sticky and clings to the blade, add another 2 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp at a time, pulsing to incorporate.

Turn dough onto a light floured surface and knead into a ball. Place dough in prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put into slightly warm oven. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 - 1½ hours.

Turn out dough on floured surface and divide in half. Cover one half with plastic wrap. Roll and form each piece of dough into a round the size of your skillet. Keep one round covered while you cook your first pizza.

Preheat your broiler. Heat your skillet on medium-low heat. Add a glug of olive oil, and place dough round in it when oil is shimmering. (You can press the dough to the edges if it doesn't quite fit.) Cook dough for about 3 minutes, until the bottom starts getting brown. Flip the dough over, and add half the toppings. Cook for another 3 minutes, then slide the skillet under the broiler for 2 - 3 minutes, or until the cheese starts to get brown and bubbly.

Slide finished pizza onto a cutting board and repeat with second dough round and toppings.

Serve and enjoy!

Ham & Swiss Mini Quiches

Most of my favourite recipes come from America's Test Kitchen. The 30-Minute Suppers magazine I picked up four years ago is stained, taped, dog-eared and altogether well used. This recipe comes from that book.

The recipe calls for white bread, but I substitute whole wheat and since our family is only used to brown bread, we don't notice. I also find that every time I've made this recipe, there is enough custard to make 10 - 12 quiches. Tonight I prepped 10 cups and the custard filled them right to the brim. (Thankfully they did not spill over.) I also substitute Swiss cheese, since I love Swiss. Otherwise I make this recipe as is and it has always turned out. Tonight we had no leftovers.

Enjoy!

Ham & Swiss Mini Quiches
From America's Test Kitchen, 30-Minute Suppers, Winter 2010

8 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed
½ C sour cream
1 tsp cornstarch
3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
salt and pepper
Pinch nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne
3/4 C half-and-half
3 oz sliced deli ham, diced
1/2 C shredded Gruyère cheese

Heat oven to 375º. Lightly spray muffin tin with baking spray.
Using a rolling pin, roll each slice of bread until thin. Spray both sides of bread with baking spray, then line 8 muffin cups with the bread, gently overlapping edges to make the bread fit. Don't worry if you get some tearing, just patch it up best you can and move on. Bake until lightly toasted and edges are beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk sour cream, cornstarch, eggs, yolk, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, nutmeg and cayenne in a large liquid measuring cup. To jump-start custard, microwave half-and-half until steaming, about 90 seconds. Whisk half-and-half into sour cream mixture.

Divide ham and cheese evenly among the bread-lined cups. Pouring slowly, fill muffin cups with custard mixture. Bake until the tops of the quiches are set (when you gently shake the pan, the tops don't jiggle) and the edges of bread are golden brown and crisp, 12 - 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Run paring knife around outside of quiches, remove from tin and serve.

Easy Peasy So Delicious Pork Tenderloin

This recipe is so easy, so delicious and so impressive. Even though you'll hardly spend any time preparing or cooking this tenderloin, it's a real crowd pleaser. I usually allow for 1/3 - 1/2 of a tenderloin per person. For our family of two adults and two small children, one tenderloin is just enough.

Pork Tenderloin
Adapted from Cooks Country

1 - 2 pork tenderloins
Montreal steak spice
1 tbsp olive or canola oil
1/4 C ketchup
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400º. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack inside of it. Use paper towels to dry off tenderloin (this helps keep the meat from sticking to your frying pan). Sprinkle and then rub with Montreal steak spice all over.

Heat the oil in frying pan until just smoking. Brown meat on all sides. Place tenderloin on the wire rack in baking sheet and cook in oven for 15 - 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix ketchup, sugar, vinegar and 1½ tsp Montreal steak spice in small bowl. When you take tenderloin out of the oven, cover with foil for 5 minutes, then spread sauce over meat and serve.