Grilled Vegetable Panzanella

This late spring / early summer salad demands the freshest ingredients. The salad is so simple yet it is bursting with flavours. On a warm night when I don't want to cook in the house, I will grill up some fish or meat and accompany it with this salad. If you toast the bread on the grill outside, you can cook the entire meal without using your oven!

Grilled Vegetable Panzanella
1/4 loaf crusty day old bread, cubed
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 sweet pepper, cut into thirds, seeds removed
3 large leeks, white parts only
1 large bunch asparagus, tough ends removed
1 large bunch basil, chopped
zest and juice of one lemon
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toss bread with olive oil and toast until dry.
Combine tomatoes and bread in a large bowl.
Cut leeks in half, lengthwise.
Combine leeks, pepper and asparagus and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper.
Grill leeks, pepper and asparagus until vegetables are soft. Remove blackened skin from peppers. Chop all vegetables roughly, and toss with bread, tomatoes and basil.
Combine lemon juice, zest, vinegar and olive oil in a separate bowl. Pour half of dressing over salad and toss to combine. Add more dressing, as needed, until salad is dressed to your liking. Adjust seasonings.

Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie

This is one of my all time favourite deserts! In reality though, I love any desert that has to do with rhubarb. Rhubarb pie, raspberry rhubarb crisp, strawberry rhubarb pie, rhubarb custard pie, rhubarb creme brulee, rhubarb coffee cake, rhubarb shortbread squares, rhubarb souffle ... you get the idea! This recipe comes from an Old Order Mennonite cookbook called "More Good Food That Really Schmecks". The cookbook, and the pie, have been favourites in our house for decades!

Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie
1 9" pie crust (recipe follows)
4 or 5 cups cubed fresh rhubarb
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/3 + 1/2 cup flour (separated)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soft butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Arrange rhubarb on bottom of pie crust. Mix sugar, 1/3 cup flour and sour cream; pour mixture evenly over rhubarb. Blend the remaining flour, butter and brown sugar until a crumbly mixture forms; sprinkle the mixture over the rhubarb.
Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then at 350 for an additional 30 minutes, or until the fruit is tender, the filling is set and the crumbs are golden.

Double Pie Crust

2 cups flour
1 t sugar
1 t salt
1/2 cup Crisco vegetable shortening
1/2 cup Tenderflake lard
1 egg
2 T ice-cold water
1 T white vinegar

Mix flour, sugar and salt.
Cut fats into flour mixture with a pastry blender, until crumbly.
Whisk egg, water and vinegar until well mixed; pour over flour mixture and combine gently with a fork and then with your hands until mixture just comes together and pastry is formed into a ball; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
When ready to use, roll out on well floured surface.
yield: one double pie crust or two 9" bottom pie crusts

Fiddlehead and Lemon Risotto

Who doesn't adore fiddleheads? When they are in season for their brief Spring moment, I try to eat them as often as possible because I know they are a rare treat to devour quickly, before they disappear, as quickly as they came, from the market tables. This recipe can be replicated using asparagus or any similar green vegetable that you have on hand, but do try to get fiddleheads as there really is no substitution for their bittter, earthy flavours.

Fiddlehead and Lemon Risotto

2 cups fresh fiddleheads, cleaned

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 T olive oil

2 shallots, chopped fine

2 or 3 large handfulls arborio or Carnaroli rice

1 cup dry white wine

1-2 quarts chicken stock

3 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated finely

1 handfull of chives

zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 T thyme, chopped fine

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a very large pan, heat 1 T olive oil over high heat. Add garlic, fiddleheads, salt and pepper and saute until soft. Remove fiddleheads from pan. Heat 1 T olive oil and add shallots season with salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat until golden. Add rice and cook until translucent. Add wine and stir until absorbed.

Heat chicken stock to boil. Add by the ladle to the rice mixture, stirring after each addition until liquid is absorbed. Continue until rice is cooked al dente (with a slight bite to it). The mixture should be quite loose as it will stiffen up over time and with the addition of the cheese.

In a small food processor, combine half of the fiddleheads, chives, 1 T olive oil and large splash of chicken stock. Process until a paste forms similar in texture to a pesto.

Add zest, pesto mixture, parmesan and fiddleheads to rice mixture, stir well, adjust for seasonings and serve.

Rhubarb Souffle

As promised, here is the recipe for Rhubarb Souffle, from my Toronto weekend with Sarah K. I had bright pink spring rhubarb growing in my garden so I brought some with me to the city. We had a brainstorm session to determine what wonderful concoctions we could make for desert. I give Sarah full credit for the souffle idea. It turned out beautifully!

Rhubarb Souffle

~ serves 4 ~

3 egg whites

3 yolks

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar divided

2/3 cup rhubarb compote (recipe follows)

3 T butter, melted

3 T heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375.

Butter ramekins and sprinkle sides and bottom with sugar. Place 1 T of rhubarb compote in bottom of each ramekin.

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, adding 3 T of sugar towards end

Combine yolks, vanilla, flour, 1/4 cup sugar, remaining rhubarb, butter and cream.

Fold egg yolk mixture carefully into egg white mixture.

Pour evenly into ramekins.

Bake in a water bath for 15 minutes.

Rhubarb Compote:

8 cups rhubarb

zest and juice of one orange

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients over medium heat in large saucepan.

Stir until rhubarb is very soft.
Puree in blender or food processor until smooth.

Spring is here ... lets go for a hike!

We went for a walk on the Tiger Dunlop Heritage Trail in Goderich yesterday. It was my first time on the trail this year. It has become an early spring ritual and a path that I return to over the warm seasons whenever I find the time, or need, to get outside to enjoy the air. The trail begins along the old CNR bridge and follows the river for a few kilometres of gravel pathway, overlooking the river valley. Everything is in early bloom, flower buds are emerging on the trees, mallard ducks flirt with their partners, and rainbow trout dodge devoted fishermen as they make their way upstream to spawn.

As you can see I am feeling a bit poetic and excited about the new season. We purchased our first vegetable seeds today for our garden this year and I placed my order for heirloom tomato plants. I can't wait to start planting!

Fresh pasta with spring artichokes, asparagus, pine nuts and goat cheese

As promised, here is my recipe for artichoke pasta with goat cheese. You can make it with store-bought fresh pasta, or dry pasta (white or whole wheat), but making fresh pasta is much easier than it sounds, and it can be quite comforting as kneading the dough can be quite a therapeutic way to work out the days stresses!

I have used multiple recipes over the years for fresh pasta, but the easiest (never fail) recipe is from Italian home cooking guru Lidia Matticchio Bastianich's book Lidia's Family Table. Here is the recipe:

Fresh Pasta
2 cups all purpose flour
2 jumbo free range eggs
4 T good quality olive oil
3 T cold water
pinch sea salt

Make a well in the middle of the flour. Add remaining ingredients to well.


Slowly mix egg mixture into flour. Incorporating sides of well into egg mixture until fully incorporated.


Kneed for 5-10 minutes or until pasta is soft and springs back when pressed. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and let rest, at room temperature, for at least 30 minutes (or refrigerate overnight if you are preparing in advance).


Divide pasta into three sections. Roll out pasta and cut into lengths according to your preference.



Pasta with Spring Artichokes, Asparagus, Pine Nuts and Goat Cheese


Ingredients
2 T olive oil
2 T butter, unsalted
2 cloves garlic, minced
5-7 baby artichoke hearts, quartered
5-10 sprigs of asparagus, bottom shaved and tough ends removed, cut into 2 inch pieces
zest of one lemon
1 large glass dry white wine or dry vermouth
1/4 cup free range chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
4 T goat cheese
1/4 cup fresh chives, minced
pasta recipe (above)
freshly ground pepper and sea salt

Toast pine nuts in a dry pan over high heat until browned, remove and set aside. Heat oil and butter over medium high heat. Add garlic, artichoke hearts, asparagus and lemon zest. Saute until softened. Add wine and stock. Reduce by half. Add mascarpone and pine nuts and stir until cheese is melted. Adjust seasonings. Cook pasta for 2-3 minutes in salted boiling water. Reserve 1-2 cups pasta water and drain pasta. Add pasta to vegetables and toss. Add reserved pasta water if pasta seems dry. Serve sprinkled with goat cheese and chives.

Baby Artichoke Risotto with Lemon Thyme

I first made this recipe while living in Florence, Italy for the summer after my second year of law school. We had a gorgeous produce shop, two doors down from our apartment, and we would stop in daily to see what was fresh and seasonal so that we could plan our night's dinner around the ingredients. One spring day they had a beautiful display of purple baby artichokes. I brought a huge bag of them home and made this risotto that night and a fantastic pasta the following evening (I promise to provide that recipe at a later date!).

Spring baby artichokes are just starting to emerge at farmer's markets across the province. I was going to prepare some pictures on how to clean them but I think this fantastic slide show provides more than enough assistance on the subject.

If you would like to make this dish vegetarian, you can easily substitute chicken broth for vegetable broth.

~ Serves 4 ~

Baby Artichoke Risotto with Lemon Thyme
2 T olive oil
2 shallots, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 t lemon thyme, removed from stems
5-7 baby artichoke hearts, quartered
3 hand-fulls arborio rice
1 large glass dry white wine or dry vermouth
4-5 cups free range chicken stock
2 oz parmigiano-reggiano, grated finely
sea salt and freshly grated black pepper

1. Heat chicken broth over high heat until boiling, reduce heat and keep reserved at a simmer.
   
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and saute until golden.
   
3. Add artichoke hearts and saute until browned.
   
4. Add thyme and rice and mix until rice is translucent. Season rice with salt and pepper.
   
5. Add wine, scrape up all the brown bits and stir until absorbed into rice.
6. Add the broth to the rice mixture, one ladle at a time, stirring after each addition until the liquid is fully absorbed before you add the next ladle full.
7. After about 20-25 minutes, start to taste the rice. Add small ladles of broth until the rice is al dente, or the texture you prefer.
   
8. Add parmesan and stir until melted. Adjust seasonings.
   
9. Serve with shavings of parmesan.