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.

Salmon and Avocado Cold Rolls

This recipe is a great way to use up leftover salmon. I used leftover miso-glazed salmon, which was a fantastic match to the other ingredients in the recipe. You could also use cooked shrimp, crab, lobster or chicken. This recipe is loosely based on Dinah Koo's of Toronto's "Tiger Lily's Noodle House".

Salmon and Avocado Cold Rolls
~ 8 rolls ~

Rolls:
5 oz brown rice vermicelli noodles
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 cup cucumber, de-seeded and shredded
bunch mint leaves, chopped fine
bunch basil leaves, chopped fine
bunch chives, chopped fine
6 oz salmon
1 avocado
1 T toasted sesame seeds
16 rice papers, two per roll

Sauce:
1 T dark honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 T hoisin sauce
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 T sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
juice and zest of two limes
pinch red chili flakes

Prepare vermicelli noodles by soaking in hot water until noodles are soft. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Add to large bowel. Drain excess water from shredded carrots and cucumber and add vegetables to noodles. Add fresh herbs (mint, basil and chives) to noodle mixture.
Prepare sauce by mixing all ingredients in a bowl.
Add half of the sauce to the noodle mixture.
Prepare a water dish by filling a large pie plate or large bowl with very hot water.
Soak 2 rice paper rounds, per roll, in the hot water for 1 minute.
Lay softened papers, one on top of the other, on a clean board.
Place a large mound of noodle mixture onto center of round.
Top with a couple of slices each, of avocado and salmon.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Fold the bottom of the paper above and over the mixture, tucking in the sides. Roll another quarter turn, re-tuck in the sides and then continue to roll until mixture is completely wrapped. The rice paper will naturally stick to itself, creating a seal.
Tip: soak two more papers while rolling each roll, in order to make the process quicker.
Serve rolls, cut down the middle, with remaining sauce.

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

Carnitas

One of my favourite treats when visiting Mexico are Pork Carnitas on warm fresh tortillas. The melt-in-your-mouth morsels of meat are such a treat for the senses.

Traditionally, Carnitas are made by slow cooking pork, orange slices and spices, in a bath of melted lard. The fat ensures rich and flavourful results. I would recommend doing it the traditional way, for a treat. However, this healthier version is becoming very popular, even within Mexico. It is also full of flavour with a little less guilt!

Pork Carnitas

4 lb pork shoulder roast, cut into one inch cubes

zest and juice of one large naval orange

2 T ground cumin

1 T ground coriander seed

2 T sea salt

1 T freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup beef stock

Combine all ingredients in a slow-cooker:

Cook on low setting for 10 hours until meat is very tender and shreds easily. Remove from liquid and serve. If you like the meat to be caramelized on the outside, then place drained meat on a well oiled baking sheet and bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes to crisp outside of meat. Serve on fresh homemade tortillas with the toppings of your choice.

Toppings:

avocado, sliced thin

tomatillo salsa

jalapeno peppers, diced
queso fresco or feta cheesesour cream

radishes, sliced very thin

cucumber, sliced very thin

fresh cilantro

Shrimp and Scallop Pasta with Lemon, Rapini and Basil

This is a very common week-day dinner in my house. It is simple and fast yet it's clean flavours are familiar and comforting.  

 Shrimp and Scallop Pasta, with Lemon, Rapini and Basil

good lug of olive oil

large pad of butter

1/2 large Spanish onion, chopped fine

4 cloves garlic, chopped fine

large pinch chili-flakes 

1 lb tiger shrimp, cleaned and shelled

1 lb large sea scallops, quartered

1 cup chicken stock 

1/2 cup dry white wine
bunch rapini, chopped

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 pound dry pasta, we used spaghetti

zest and juice of one lemon

250 g fresh goat's milk feta, crumbled

large bunch fresh basil, chopped fine

salt and pepper 

Bring well salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions on box.

Heat olive oil and butter over medium high heat until butter is melted. Add half of the garlic and chili-flakes and cook until fragrant. Dry seafood well with a paper towel and season well with salt and pepper. Place seafood in pan, in an even layer, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. If there is not enough room, fry seafood in separate batches to ensure that you are getting some colour on the seafood, rather than boiling it! 

When when seafood is done (about 1-2 minutes total), remove, cut shrimp in half (width wise) and set aside. Add a bit more olive oil and onion to pan. Saute until onion is golden. Add the remaining garlic and the rapini to pan and saute until the rapini begins to soften.

Add wine and deglaze pan by scraping up all the browned bits. Add stock and cook over medium high heat until the liquid has reduced by half. Add tomatoes at the end of the cooking process. Check for seasonings.

When the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain pasta making sure to reserve at least one cup of the pasta water before you draining.

Toss pasta in sauce, add seafood, lemon juice, lemon zest and adjust seasonings.  If pasta seems dry, add in pasta water until desired consistency is reached.

Serve in a large bowl, sprinkled with feta, fresh basil and a good drizzle of great olive oil.

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.

Roasted Bone Marrow

This is one of my favourite treats, it is absolutely full fat and bad for you, but aren't all things in life that are worth having?? This recipe is based on Jennifer McLagan's cookbook/encyclopedia "Bones". It is supremely easy and equally delicious.

Roasted Marrow Bones
Marrow bones (1 or 2 per person)
Ice Water
Sea Salt
Fresh Thyme
Toast points

Prepare the bones 12-24 hours in advance by soaking them in ice-water and 2 T salt, to remove any blood. Change the salt water every 4-6 hours. When blood has been extracted from bones, dry them well.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
On a well oiled baking sheet place bones, vertically on sheet.
Roast for 15-25 minutes, until center marrow is puffed and a little marrow has started to leak from the bones.
Remove bones from oven and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh thyme.
Serve 1-2 bones per person. To enjoy: scoop out the delectable marrow and serve warm on toast sprinkled with more salt.