First BBQ of the Season, Scalloped Carrots, and Local Pears

Ahhhh...Spring has finally arrived. It is slowly starting to get warmer and we have been so excited to have our first BBQ of the season. I know that there are many people who BBQ all 12 months of the year, but I really didn't want to go outside onto the deck to shovel out my barbeque and then stand outside in the blowing snow just for some steaks or burgers. Besides, I think the wait just makes the first few BBQ's of the year that much more special.

On our menu: sausages on a bun, raw greenhouse peppers and tomatoes, and a side of scalloped carrots. Yes, scalloped carrots. I recently started following yet another great Ontario blog called 'The Seasonal Family' - see http://www.seasonalfamily.com/ . All of the recipes I've seen so far are great and I hope to try many of them. On this day, I tried their recipe for scalloped carrots.

Here is my recipe (adapted from theirs):

• 4 carrots
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup skim milk
• salt, pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded tomato basil harvarti
• 1/4 cup shredded mild cheddar

Using a food processor's slicing blade thinly slice the carrots and put them into a pie plate.

In a pan, melt the butter and then add the flour, whisking until well-combined. Add the milk and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the harvarti and whisk until melted. Once melted, spread it over the carrots and then sprinkle the remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

The dish was delicious. It was so nice to have a new recipe using carrots. I am so tired of eating root vegetables. I'm looking very forward to eating some asparagus, green beans and broccoli. Mmmm....broccoli!

For dessert, we had my Almond/Pear Crisp . And you know what? The pears were local. Yes, Crunican Orchards (north of London near Lucan) still has local Ontario bosc pears available from storage. I think this is the only place I've found that still has some. I was so excited to have another fresh fruit option to eat and was even more excited to be able to make my crisp. It was the perfect ending to our meal.

Sowing Seeds with the London City Farm Network

Today my daughter and I were out in Thorndale (just East of London) helping out with some sowing for the London City Farm Network.

The London City Farm Network is a not-for-profit organization that grows several varieties of heirloom vegetables without the use of sprays or fertilizers. The seedlings, plants, and vegetables are sold to restaurants and to the public via the Covent Garden Market and Masonville market from May through October. The funds generated are used to employ youth to work in their field, which is located at the Pioneer Village in the Fanshawe Conservation area.

I recently became involved with them and have been working on their blog to promote their vegetables and various events (see: http://www.londoncityfarmnetwork.blogspot.com/). The event this afternoon, for instance, was a get-together at Rath's Greenhouses in Thorndale to sow some of the seeds that will eventually be potted and then sold at the market. A few people came out to help and we got through several trays of different types of tomatoes, eggplant, spinach, flowers, etc..

If you're interested in volunteering please contact Sarah Brooks directly at sarahabroo@aol.com . Volunteers are needed to help pot seedlings at the greenhouse, pruning and picking in the fields, and to help sell seedlings and vegetables at the market.

Please check their blog often - I'll be promoting their events and get-togethers, listing great gardening tips from Sarah, giving detailed information about the different heirloom vegetables grown and posting some recipes too!

Foodland Ontario Calendar - March (Breakfast Ham 'n' Cheese Egg Wraps)

I turned the page of my Foodland Ontario calendar to 'March' 20 days ago. The featured recipe this month is the 'Breakfast Ham 'n' Cheese Egg Wrap'.

The ingredients for this recipe include:

• 4tsp Ontario butter
• 1/2 cup each finely chopped Ontario onion and Ontario greenhouse sweet peppers (red, orange, yellow)
• 8 Ontario eggs
• 1/2 cup diced Ontario ham
• 1/2 cup shredded Ontario mild cheddar cheese
• 1 Ontario greenhouse tomato, diced
• 4 large whole wheat flour tortillas.

In a 10-inch non-stick skillet (I used my cast-iron pan), melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and peppers; saute for 4 minutes or until softened. In a large bowl, whisk eggs; stir in ham and pour into skillet. With spatula, gently push cooked egg to flow underneath. Cook until eggs are set but still creamy and bottom is firm. Sprinkle with cheese; cover with lid and cook until cheese is melted. Slice into 4 wedges and place on each tortilla. Sprinkle evenly with the tomatoes. Fold in two sides of the tortilla and roll up.

***When I made this recipe this morning I cut the ingredients in half and replaced the ham with bacon (I'm not a fan of ham). I cooked the bacon in the pan and then removed the bacon fat and put the bacon aside. I then continued the recipe and added the bacon at the very end in the wrap itself.

The recipe calls for Ontario greenhouse vegetables. March is when these vegetables usually become available (i.e., tomatoes, peppers, etc..). Nonetheless, I have found that they are not easily found in the supermarkets. Cucumbers are always available but tomatoes and especially the peppers still tend to come from Mexico. Today, for instance, I was at Wal-Mart buying vacuum bags and was appalled to see that the peppers were all from Mexico greenhouses (hot-house) and that they were individually wrapped. Why?

On that note it's important to make sure that you look at both the signs stating where the peppers are from as well as the sticker on the pepper/tomato itself. Often grocery stores will advertise something as 'Ontario-grown' but will forget to change the sign if the source of the product changed. The sign may say from Ontario but a quick look at the sticker will often show that it's actually from Mexico.

Next month's recipe (April): Potato Toppers

For an electronic version of Foodland Ontario's 2011 calendar see: http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/english/calendar/2011/index.html

January - Crispy Vegetable Chips
February - Parsnip, Apple & Brie Soup

Crinklaw's Maple Syrup Farm

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring (finally)! We had one long and hard winter in London this year and I am so happy to bid it adieu. It seemed as though it was either snowing or raining and if it was sunny it was really cold outside. Sadly, we never made it out for some sledding and only managed to go skating once this year. Spring is very welcome right now - and one sure sign of Spring's arrival is maple syrup. It's the first real harvest of the year in these parts!

I know I've mentioned this several times on my blog but I LOVE maple syrup! I go through litres and litres of it over the course of the year. I use it as a replacement for sugar in my recipes, on my oatmeal, with pancakes and french toast, as a sweetener for my plain yogurt, or simply dip my toast into it. There are just so many uses for it. Luckily it's also very good for you.

-maple syrup is an excellent source of calcium, iron, potassium and thiamine
-maple syrup has levels of antioxidants comparable to broccoli
-maple syrup is real food and has nothing added to it; it is simply boiled down
-maple syrup is high in sugar but it releases energy more slowly and thus, does not lead to a sugar crash
-maple syrup is categorized as a sucrose which means that it is less likely to be turned into fat compared to other types of sugar

Last year at this time we visited the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival . In the last few weeks I've noticed that this particular post has been gotten a lot of hits, which means that many people are heading out to the local sugar bushes and festivals right now. This year we decided to visit the Crinklaw Maple Syrup Farm.

We have been to this farm in the past and have always enjoyed our time there. Why wouldn't we? Their festival breakfast is delicious - pancakes, breakfast sausages, maple-baked beans and a warmed drizzle of maple syrup. Soooo good! They don't just have breakfast though. They have maple syrup taffy (syrup drizzled in snow; well,...ice today since our snow is now gone), they have homemade maple-covered donuts, tons of other maple products for purchase, and a great horse-drawn tour led by Ian Crinklaw. The tour is the best that I've experienced. Ian is a great speaker and is obviously very passionate about his family's farm and of maple syrup; I always learn something new.

In the store I was excited to see a new product - maple cookies! Everyone has had those maple leaf-shaped cream-filled cookies from the supermarket, correct? These ones are real - they contain flour, butter, sugar, maple syrup and icing sugar. That's it!! Compare that to the store-bought brand that has only 2% or less of maple syrup, high fructose corn syrup, leavening, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavour, color, etc..

And were they ever good...so much better than the ones in a box that taste like the box they came in!

Other products that they have include maple butter, maple candies, maple sugar (great for oatmeal and as a topping for fruits), mustards, maple chocolates, and lots of syrup (obviously). Actually, my syrup was still warm when I purchased it this afternoon. It had been boiled down and bottled earlier that day!

The maple syrup festival is on for only one more day but the maple products in the store are available for purchase year round. They are open March 5th - April 9th from 10 - 4 (excluding Mondays), and then on Wednesdays and Saturdays the rest of the year. For hours and more information about the farm check http://www.crinklawmaplesyrup.com/ .

Please remember to purchase maple syrup throughout the year. It seems that so many people only think about it during the Spring Festivals and don't realize that it's available for purchase all 12 months of the year. It's a great substitute for sugar and tastes one hundred times better than the artificial stuff at the grocery store. Please support our local producers!!

Here is my latest maple syrup recipe that I've become addicted to - another homemade better-for-you version of the store bought sugar-coated nuts:

Maple Roasted Nuts

• 2 cups nuts (I used peanuts, cashews, and almonds)
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• salt to season (I used 1/4 tsp or so)

Mix the ingredients together and spread the mixture on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Roast in the oven at 325 for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When they are done, remove them from the cookie sheet immediately and transfer to a bowl (if this step is missed then the nuts will stick to the paper). Add raisins and/or cranberries and enjoy.



Local in California

I've been in California for the last few days; hence the lack of new blog posts. It hasn't been because of a lack of content; quite the opposit actually! I have a long list of ideas/future posts--some related to my trip but most are awaiting my return home and additional time actually type and get my thoughts organized. I have been so tired from walking, visiting and eating that I just haven't been able to focus. Tonight, however, my head is clear!

We have always wanted to visit California and finally had our chance since my husband was already here for work and my daughter was on her March break from school. Joelle and I flew down on Saturday and Andre met us at the airport. So far we've been able to visit foggy San Francisco, beautiful Monterey and today we spent the day in the car touring the Central Valley (Fresno to Visalia). Tomorrow, on our last full day, we'll be taking a scenic hike in Yosemite National Park and then back to San Francisco to fly back home.

California is definitely a foodie's paradise - especially for someone who is passionate about local foods like me. Here are just a few of the foodie highlights from my trip to wonderful California:

Lemon Trees--A lot of people have lemon trees growing in their yards. How jealous am I? Wouldn't it be great to just go outside and pick a lemon off everytime you needed one? I would always have a jug of fresh lemonade in my fridge and would freely squirt lemons onto all of my dishes. Another plus--they're just so pretty!

Grapes/Raisins/Nuts -- The Central Valley has fields upon fields of grapes and nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, etc..). In fact, they grow grapes and nuts like Ontario grows corn and soy. One small town, named Selma, which is located between Fresno and Visalia, is actually the raisin capital of the world. Ninety percent of raisins in the U.S. are produced there. Coincidentally, this is also where the Sun-Maid headquarters are located. We visited the store, of course, and ogled the products that we wouldn't normally find here in Canada. We left with chocolate covered prunes. No raisins were purchased here because I had already bought 3 other varieties at another farm in Fresno.

Oranges --  There was no way I was going to fly back home without getting a view of an orange tree. I finally got my wish 5 days into our trip. We drove by an orange grove today (in an industrial area, no less) and I squealed with joy. We had to drive and turn around a couple of times just so I could get a picture. We bought 3 oranges from a fruit market later in the afternoon but I wish I could have bought more. Too bad for those laws stating that we can't bring fresh produce into Canada!!

Artichokes -- While the Central Valley had fields of grapes and nuts, the Central Coast (between San Francisco and Monterey) fields were full of artichokes. It was amazing to see so many of them as far as the eye could see. In fact, nearly one hundred percent of all artichokes grown in the United States are grown in California and seventy-five percent of that lies within Monterey County (yield - 4 million cartons).

Fortune Cookies -- we had a chance to visit the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. The store/factory is tiny and can be found in an alley in Chinatown. We were  only able to find it using our GPS. The people working there were very friendly and are accustomed to having their pictures taken by every customer walking in. We bought a bag of fortune cookies and sesame cookies. Still-warm flat samples of the fortune cookies are also provided to customers to snack on immediately.

Ghirardelli Chocolate -- Since 1852 Ghirardelli Chocolate has been located in the San Francisco area. Now a historical landmark, millions of people visit Ghirardelli Square every year to indulge in their chocolate and ice cream. We visited as well and had a lovely before-lunch 'treat' - a shared peanut butter/chocolate sundae for my husband and I and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cone for the kid.

Olive Oil -- According to the California Olive Oil Council (COOL) there are over 200 producers of olive oil in California. I was able to do an olive oil tasting at the Jacuzzi Winery in Sonoma County and tasted several different types of vinegars and flavoured oils. I especially loved the lemon one and the one infused with clementine. I bought a bottle of each. The next day I bought another bottle of plain extra virgin olive oil from Stonehouse California Olive Oil located in Berkeley. I really hope none of these bottles shatter in my suitcase on the way home.

Dates --  Dates are a yummy snack; especially in the car while travelling. My husband and I found some California dates at a small market in Sonoma. For the next few days we wondered where dates came from and how they were actually grown. After some googling I was able to find that they grow in the desert areas of California and Arizona on date palms. While Iraq remains the largest date producer in the world, the U.S. produces more than 60 million pounds of dates annually. Check out http://www.chinaranch.com/ for more facts about U.S. dates.

**** Side note -- I did get some sourdough bread on this trip. Sourdough bread is HUGE in San Francisco and it deserves its own post. Stay posted for this one!

Mushroom Barley Risotto

Traditionally, risotto is made using arborio rice. Rice, however, isn't local to Ontario. Actually, the packages of arborio rice I've seen are usually imported from Italy. Barley, on the other hand, IS available in Ontario and is a great local alternative to rice and makes a great risotto.

Here are some other reasons to eat barley:

• Barley is one of the richest sources of soluble and insoluble fiber - 200 gms of barley contains 55% of the recommended daily fiber intake
• Barley is high in antioxidants.
• Barley helps lower blood LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol)
• Barley helps stabilize blood glucose levels - it is high in magnesium which reacts with the enzymes that control the blood sugar level in the body and thus helps to keep glucose level in the body steady.
• Barley supplies copper which has the ability to reduce the intensity of inflammatory arthritis. It also increases the flexibility of stiff body joints, bones and blood vessels.

We're going away on holidays soon so my goal this week has been to use as much of the remaining food in my fridge as possible to avoid having to dump any of it into the trash when we get back. One item on my list to use were my mushrooms. I had already lost my shitake mushrooms; they had become dried and wrinkly. Luckily, my cremini mushrooms were still passable. A yummy mushroom and barley risotto was the result.

Mushroom Barley Risotto

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 small (or 1 large) onion diced
• handful cremini mushrooms diced
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 cup barley
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

In a pot bring the broth to a simmer and then reduce heat to low. In a large saucepan melt 2 tbsp butter. Add onions and mushrooms and saute until softened. Add the barley and toast for a couple of minutes. Add a 1/2 to 3/4 cup of broth to the barley and once it has been absorbed add another portion. Repeat until all of the broth has been used and absorbed. Mix in 1 tbsp of butter and the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

After I made this dish I realized that I had meant to add some fresh thyme. I think that this would have been a great addition to the dish. I love pairing mushrooms and thyme together; to me they're like peas and carrots. Next time, I guess.

Homemade Condiments Part 2 - Ketchup

This is Part 2 of my series on homemade condiments. In my attempt to empty my fridge of processed condiments I have been experimenting with homemade versions of them. Last month I made an attempt at homemade mayonnaise This week, I tried out homemade ketchup.

Michael Smith's Homemade Ketchup

• 28oz  can of chopped tomatoes
• 5.5oz can of tomato paste
• 1 large onion
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 2 or 3 bay leaves
• salt and pepper, to taste

Toss all of the ingredients into a large saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring it to a simmer. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reduces by half, about 30 minutes. Cool the ketchup to room temperature and then puree the mixture in a food processor or blender.

The recipe turned out allright... It was good...but it'll take some getting used to. It really tasted 'tomato-ey'. And when I say 'tomato-ey' I mean that you could actually taste the tomatoes. I don't think I had ever noticed how sweet store-bought ketchup really was. Try making homemade ketchup and you'll see what I mean. It's what real ketchup is supposed to taste like; like tomatoes, not sugar.

The best part about homemade ketchup? You can flavour it any way you wish. Next time I think I'll try regular vinegar and perhaps use brown sugar. Maybe I'll spice it up a bit. Mostly, I hope to use tomatoes straight from my garden rather than from a can. Maybe I'd roast them first? What would you do?

Homemade English Muffins

I made homemade English muffins the other day; and to my surprise, they actually turned out the way they were supposed to. They weren't dense. Actually, they turned out better than the store-bought version. Don't tell anyone,...but, I almost shed some happy tears when making this recipe.

Homemade English Muffins (from www.cookingbread.com )

• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (110F)
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 egg whites
• fine cornmeal

In a bowl combine water , yeast, baking soda, and 2 cups of bread flour. Allow to sit 5 minutes uncovered. In the meantime, add egg white to a bowl or in a standmixer and whisk until stiff peaks are formed. Add the egg whites to the batter. Start adding the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time. After the first 1/4 cup is added mix in the salt. When the mixture becomes too hard to mix pour it onto the counter and knead until the dough becomes smooth and silky (about 5-6 minutes). Add a little oil to a bowl and place the dough into the bowl. Turn dough over until all sides are lightly coated. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Afterwards, move the dough onto the counter and press on it to release some of the air. Using a rolling pin roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Allow the dough to rest for 3 minutes. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out circles. Place the cut circles onto some cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with more cornmeal. Cover with plastic wrap and leave them to rest for 45 minutes.

Turn on a griddle pan to 350F or medium heat. Spray the pan with a little oil and then place the muffins on. Fry one side for 4 minutes and then the other. Repeat for a total of 16 minutes.

Makes 12 English Muffins

Compare with the processed store-bought version: enriched wheat flour, water, yeast, vegetable oil, wheatlets, vinegar, sugar/glucose-fructose, salt, calcium-proprionate, fumaric acid, potassium sorbate, may contain calcium sulphate, calcium peroxide.

Wow! Were they ever good! I'll have to make some more very soon...perhaps as soon as this weekend!

I may even attempt other bread products now that I've got the kneading process down, which is what my issue has always been with bread-making. I've also been meaning to make the famous no-knead artisan bread. Maybe I'll stop going to the bakery to buy my bread and just make my own from now on.