What’s for dinner?

OK, basically this never ending humidity has drained me of any desire to cook, but then, at our Saturday market there were a few items that I just had to pick up, and I will cook them up for dinner tonight. The first item that I decided on was a luscious rib-eye ELK steak. This will be the first time I cook elk, but because it is so lean I’ll have to be careful not to over-cook it. I’m going to make an easy marinade for it (soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, sriracha chili sauce, and a small amount of oil). I am going to grill it and serve it with some maitaki mushrooms that I purchased form Soiled Reputation. I’ll saute them with a bit of butter and fresh juicy garlic from our garden. I’ll serve all this with some of our gorgeous organic potatoes (blue, yellow & red) and green beans, also in season now. All pretty simple, but I just know that those flavours will sing!

Here it is – all layed out on a platter. It tasted as good as it looks! Of course I didn’t tell anybody they were eating elk until all the lip smacking was done.

For dessert I made a blueberry and nectarine ‘buckle’ on the BBQ, served it with vanilla ice cream. mmm. Who needs to go out for dinner?

New Dog in the Family!

We’re pretty excited because we just got a one-and-a-half year old Great Pyrenees! He is a gorgeous giant of a dog that runs like a bullet and has a deep ferocious bark (that masks his really gentle disposition) and we are optimistic that he will be able to keep the deer out of the edamame! He has fit into our family routine as if he has always been here.

Here is ‘Ace’ (on the left) with his new friend, our 12 year old Akbash, Maggie. Look at those happy smiles!

Chickens and Tomatoes

Here’s a little story. As you may know, our farm is pretty big, so instead of walking 10 acres to get an herb or a tomato for dinner, I have a very small garden beside my kitchen, which has tarragon, mint, basil, lemon verbena, sage, parsley, more mint, even more mint (I think it is taking over) and some savoury in it. Oh yes, it has quite a few weeds as well. Anyway, this year I planted 3 heritage tomato plants as well, that I bought from City Farm at our Covent Garden Farmers’ Market. The plants have been quite spectacular, big strong, vibrant plants. I think it is because I gave them a good dose of organic composted fertilizer that I bought from Annelid Cycle, who also was at our market this spring. As you can imagine, I have been waiting quite impatiently for those tomatoes to ripen, and then the other day – lo and behold I saw some red peaking through the dense green foliage. I dashed over to check on my precious tomatoes – planning a ‘celebration of the tomato dinner’ in my mind – the chickens came dashing our from under the plants (they love cooling off in the shade of the plants), and I saw that all that remained of the tomatoes was the stem end that was still connected to the plant – the remainder had been pecked away for somebody’s afternoon snack.

Perhaps you are wondering why we didn’t have barbecued chicken for supper that night? Ahh, the eggs make all these little ‘situations’ worth it. I’ll just have to walk a bit further for my tomatoes (again) this summer.

Here’s a yummy way to use some of your own heritage tomatoes. Grilled chicken strips would be a nice addition! (sshhh, don’t tell the chickens I said that!)

Grilled Bruschetta

1 baguette, sliced

1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil

2 cloves garlic, halved

2 large vine ripened tomatoes, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch fresh basil leaves sliced into thin strips

Pinch sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional garnish)

• Heat the barbecue to medium.
• Combine the diced tomatoes with the 1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil, basil, and salt. Set aside.
• Brush the slices of baguette on each side with the 1/2 cup (125 ml) of olive oil. Grill them on each side, turning down the heat if necessary. When the bread is grilled, rub each slice with the cut garlic, and then top with the tomatoes mixture while bread is still warm. Grind some pepper over top, and Parmesan cheese if desired. Serve immediately.

Zucchini Avalanche

Oh yes, it’s that time of year – we have green zucchini, yellow zucchini, and paddy pans coming out our ying yang. What to do with all of these delicious summer squash…

Here are a few ideas: Make a cake, loaf or muffins – see recipes below!

Teresa (who I work with at the market) makes grilled zucchini pizzas – she grills sliced zucchini or paddy pans that have been brushed with olive oil for the base of the ‘pizza’, and then puts on the pizza toppings – anything you like pepperoni, cheese, pizza sauce. I love feta, tomatoes and basil- but why not make up your own combination?

I also love the simple grilled flavour of zucchini with lots of garlic and onions. mmm.

Some folks at the market have told me they have even put grated zucchini into brownies to make them extra moist. I think it is worth a try!

Here are the recipes as promised!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 1/2 cup (500 ml) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (125 ml) cocoa powder

2 1/2 tsp (12.5 ml) baking powder

1 1/2 tsp (7.5 ml) baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp (5 ml) cinnamon

1 1/2 cup (375 ml) milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup (125 ml) buttermilk

2 cup (500 ml) granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 cup (500 ml) zucchini, grated

2 tsp vanilla

3 Tbsp (45 ml) orange zest, minced

Glaze:

1 1/2 cup (500 ml) icing sugar

3-4 Tbsp (45-60 ml) orange juice

• Heat oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.
• In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
• In another bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, and sugar with the eggs. Stir in the zucchini, vanilla, and orange zest. Pour wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir just to combine. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan, and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling on a rack.
• Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar and orange juice for the glaze, and when the cake is cool, pour over top.
• Makes one bundt cake.

Nutty Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup (375 ml) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil

1/2 cup (125 ml) plain yogourt

2 cups (500 ml) zucchini, grated

1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla

1 Tbsp (15 ml) orange zest, minced

3 cups (750 ml) all purpose flour

1 tsp (5 ml) salt

1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder

1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1 cup (250 ml) pecans, chopped

Glaze:

1 cup (250 ml) icing sugar, sifted

3 Tbsp (45 ml) orange juice

• Heat oven to 350° F (180° C). Spray two loaf pans with non stick cooking spray. Set aside.
• In a medium size bowl, whisk together the eggs with the sugar, oil, yogourt, zucchini, vanilla, and orange zest. In another larger bowl, sift the flour together with the salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in the pecans. Make a well in the centre, and stir in the egg/ sugar mixture. Stir just until everything is combined. Divide the batter equally between the two loaf pans, smooth out the top of the batter, and place loaf pans in oven. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour. Check to make sure the loaf is cooked by sticking a toothpick in the centre, and checking to see that no wet batter sticks to it. When cooked, let cool in pans set on racks for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool thoroughly.
• Make glaze by stirring the icing sugar together with the orange juice until smooth. Spread on top of loaves, letting it drip down the sides.
• Makes two loaves.