Purple Haze

Thought I should show you all my gardening creation for this year - purple carrots. Actually, I had a theme going on with purple carrots and blue potatoes. I was trying to get back to nature but I am not sure if I was that successful if I resorted to using genetically modified seed??!! Noentheless, both taste awesome and are a worthwhile venture if you want to try to grow something. The purple carrots are great for raw eating but the do not really cook up that great. Still taste good but the purple and orange kind of meld together post-cooking.

The day I became a BABA

So there was one day in August where I apparently decided that since my ass and thighs make me appear as though I may be an old-fashioned baba (sans babooshka), I may as well act like one.

So,one Friday AM in the dead of summer, I got up and picked beans and beets and peas and carrots and some potatoes for good measure in mom's garden. I then beetled home and began processing my creations for - what I thought would be a winter supply of veggies. HA! At about 8 pm I was heavy into chopping and blanching beans and realized that after 1 hour of planting, some hoeing, 75 days of waiting, 2 hours picking, 1 hour cutting, 30 minutes blanching (that would be 10 batches of 3 minutes each) and 15 minutes of stuffing beans into bags, I ended up with FOUR MEDIUM freezer bags of beans. Honestly, it makes one wonder how those on the farms managed without an 8th of the conveniences that we currently have. Our ancestors must spin in their graves knowing that we complain of how difficult it is to make supper when, in fact, supper nowadays means dethawing some pre-made stuff...but I digress...

Anyway despite the small amount of vegetables I managed to freeze, I actually made myself proud by not only completing that but also by making beet top rolls (can't let them go to waste) and making mom's borscht.

Like Sandy's, the borscht was awesome but seemed to miss something even after a review of the recipe with mom (and some quick corrections/additions) - it must be the mom-love because it was good but....

The beet rolls were a hit and I wished I had a picture as I am sure that no one out there believes that I actually made them. The trick is to let the beet leaves wilt before you try to roll in the rice filling. Leaving them out in the sun for an hour does the trick. I was excted to make another version from my friend's in-laws' family that involves rolling bread dough within beet leaves and cooking the whole thing in cream (very heart healthy, I know) but the deer at my parent's place managed to eat the remaining beet tops -likely saving me from yet another 5 pounds of BABA-ass that I did not need.

The proof is in the pudding...or the borscht!

We were lucky enough to have some lovely home cooked foods on our recent visit back to Edmonton. Mum served up some of her borscht. Husband event admitted to me that he loooooved hers (it's true it's super hard to beat....just Mum's speacial touch!). This picture of my father-in-law shows that the proof is in the pudding or borscht tasting!!!

I also scored TWO bags of perogies; carrots, potatoes, beats, and onions fresh outta the garden. Good news is that we were still under Air Canada's weight restriction of 50 lbs (but barely!).

Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce

Fall is a good time to try this recipe. This meal is rich, creamy, and filling for a cool, fall night. Plus, this was super easy to make and is a great recipe for a quick pork dinner. The other night my girlfriends and I were lamenting about easy meals, but unfortunate how so many of them that taste so good involve a can of soup. The irony is that yes, it involves a can of mushroom soup. It is quintessential 1970s recipe making at its peak involving one of the usual suspects: Campbell’s, Miracle Whip, Imperial Margarine…

Anyhow, here’s how it goes:
fry pork chops in a couple of tablespoons of butter mixed with a bit of oil (to prevent burning - don't think you need to do this if you use marg).
Once brown- remove to plate or corning ware dish and put in 1 large chopped onion and fry until soft. Add chopped mushrooms - around 2 cups I guess or you could add a can of mushrooms instead. fry until wilted add 1/4 cup flour to the top of the onions and stir around. add 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and some milk or cream to thin to desired consistency. Mom obviously adds cream.... it is much better with cream or even 3 % milk.

I started out trying to make this recipe with a modern twist. I wanted to use up some forest dried mushrooms I’ve had sitting in my cupboard and was trying desperately to avoid “the can”. I floured, salted and peppered my pork first. After browning the meat, I removed from the pain and added onions and deglazed with some cooking sherry. I made a rue and added my soaked dried mushrooms, some of their juice to enhance the flavor, and awaited the ultimate mushroom sauce taste test. In great anticipation I put the spoon to mouth only to taste and feel underwhelmed. I discovered I was longing, more like, yearning for the soup can mushroom sauce flavor after all. That was all I needed. I added good ol’ reliable Campbell’s and must say the result was a good old meets contemporary mix. Not quite like I remembered but veeeeerrrry close.

This is great served with rice or broad noodles or potatoes. I do; however, love the rice and mushroom sauce combo so much that I can just have the sauce and go straight to the carb and the fat (skip the meat). Bon appétit!

Borscht

I love it. My mum makes an awesome Borscht. Heck, my father (well, he was our resident the soup maker) even makes an awesome borscht. So, I had to admit I was a little intimidated to try my own...



It was so good and just like I remember.


To top it off, I was able to use fresh baby beets and green beans from a neighbour's garden on the Sunshine Coast. How great is that? (I could have even used fresh peas, but didn't have it in me.) I wouldn't recommend the baby beats, though. Lot's of peeling and hard to cut up. But they were tasty! Rubber gloves are a must.

I'll eat my borscht with sour cream as it should be eaten, but prefer mine naked.

Car tried this recipe awhile ago and has a funny story from the recipe giving end of things. Speaking of recipes, we are attempting (yes, a solid try!) to get back into recipe testing again. Looks like we will finalize this by 2020...

Welsh Cakes

Back in the saddle (again!) with some official recipe testing.

Yep, I made it to Choices and found currants. Yep, the Welsh Cakes were as a I remember them.
It isn't a recipe that I would race to try again or ever for that matter; however, they are good if you are looking for a good, sweet, but not too sweet, alternative for a biscuit or cookie alternative to have along with afternoon tea on Mother's Day (which is this upcoming Sunday).

2 cups flour
2 tbsp white sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
½ cup chilled butter
½ cup currants
2 large eggs

Mix together flour, sugar and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture looks like small peas. Add currants. Beat eggs well and add to flour mix and blend to make dough. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness and cut into rounds. Bake on top of greased skillet for three minutes on each side. Flip when brown. Serve warm or cold, with or without butter.

Not sure if I would recommend this for the cookbook or not. Maybe Sis had better luck with her lemon/blueberry version...

Next recipe? Borscht...

Braised Lamb Shank

In my attempt to re-institute dinners at the table, I whipped up a real Sunday night meal. I made Chambar's Braised Lamb Shank (with honey, figs, and cinnamon) from their recipe that was featured in the Vancouver Sun; Salad Niçoise (from rebar, the modern food cookbook --- such a yummy salad!!!); and couscous. The lamb sounds fancy but was super easy. Amazing flavours. The salad took the most effort with roasted red pepper, baby potatoes, beans, and roasted beets served atop a bed of greens, but was worth the work. Amazing dressing, too. The rebar cookbook is chock full of salad recipes and I want to try every dressing. Overall, the meal was a big hit that we both enjoyed sharing and it felt really good to put it together.

Vancouver Restaurant Awards

Vancouver Magazine published their 19th Annual Restaurant Awards. What inspiration! Reading about Chef of the Year: Pino Posteraro at Cioppino's makes me want to reserve dinner there tonight. Read, drool, and enjoy.

Oh god, not once a month

Well, I suppose it's better than nothing!

I am going to tackle the infamous Welsh Cakes recipe this weekend. I think my local Choices Market will indeed have currants; however, like Big Sis mine may be made with a twist [read: dried cranberries] since I don't feel like exiting the condo right now. The clouds outside are suffocating me. That may change later.

I've noticed "the twist" is what we do a lot. It looks like our cookbook will have the family favorites plus emphasizing the new generation! the sign of the times! the oobergay the istersay!

My kingdom for a currant!

Are currants that rare of a commodity in our current day or have I forgotten how to navigate a grocery store?

Seriously - what is the deal?

I cannot find a currant to save my life - hence the welsh cakes recipe will be - wait for it - dried blueberry and lemon welsh cakes. How is that for the bastardization of a recipe?

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I fellow foodie gave me this book: The Omnivore's Dilemma - A Natural History of Four Meals. I am 20 pages in and loving it. Such an interesting read so far. I have learned that essentially we are walking corn.

Hopefully our little Passing Perogy fun will resume after its early 2008 hiatus. I am checking in on the Big Sis about what fabulous family recipe we should tackle next. Recipes of the Spring persuasion may be nice as it feels right around the corner! (NOT: it is snowing in Vancouver today).

Batter Blaster

Yes, yes it is: Organic Batter Blaster. Pancakes that come out of a can. And yes, husband bought this from the U.S. when he was there in January.


They taste okay. They burned super easily. It was novel to try, but don't run out to the store. Stick to Blender Pancakes.