"Jenny's cookbook is full of heart and soul" Chef Michael Smith

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Creamy Broccoli Soup

This time last year: Kale and Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions and Chicken Penne with Greens and Raspberries


When do we become confident soup makers?  When do we become confident cooks for that matter, counting on regular success in the kitchen and perhaps even believing that cooking is something we should do for a living?   For something so basic to our survival, it is astonishing how much practice it takes to become a really good cook.  Take soup.  I know that if I start with some chopped onions, some garlic, and a few basic ingredients that I can make something delicious.  But it wasn't always that way.

I had already mastered a few basics when I left home: macaroni and cheese, pancakes, stirfry.  But far away on the other side of the country, I missed my mother's chicken soup.  And she couldn't really tell me how to make it, because she Just Made It.  Also, I was vegetarian at the time, so I couldn't admit it. 

I was working at my first real cooking job, at a bowling alley on Saltspring Island, British Columbia.  I didn't have a phone, or a house for that matter, but I had a job.  I'd wake up each morning in my tent, shower at the marina down the road, and head in.  If I was late, my boss would call the woman who owned the land I was camping on, and she would holler at me from her house up the hill.  Kings Lane Recreation was a combination bowling alley/pool hall/arcade/restaurant beloved by Ganges locals.  The food was great.  Turkeys were continuously roasted, halibut filleted by hand for fish and chips, dough for butter tarts rolled out and filled.  And big pots of soup were made from scratch.

After working for the owner,  Ruth,  for a while, I progressed from counter girl to gravy maker to full time cook.  Following recipes that had been used for years, I slowly gained confidence in soup-making and most other kitchen duties.  I also learned a great deal about being a boss and business owner. Ruth was generous, kind, crazy, and bursting with love for her family and community.  She could flirt like nobody's business and always kept tubes of lipstick by the sink for applying when the rush of hardworking men would come in for lunch.  I think of her whenever I choose the heel of the bread for my sandwich at work (it'd go to waste otherwise) or hire someone with no experience just because I like them.  That's how Ruth would do it.

When I moved back home to NS, Ruth and I kept in touch.  She was the last person I regularly corresponded with by mail and I looked forward to her letters filled with news about her amazing children, travels with her husband, and Saltspring gossip.  Now it's only every few years that we check up on each other, but I'll always remember her taking a chance on me and giving me a start in the right direction.


Cream of Broccoli Soup

Choose a lovely bunch of local broccoli for this soup.  That's the secret to its success!

1 large bunch Broccoli
3 C. Water or Stock
1 1/2 t. Salt
3 T. Butter
1 medium Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 C. Flour
2 C. Milk (I use 1 or 2%)
Optional: 1/2 to 1 C. grated Cheddar

Cut the broccoli from the main stem and peel the stem.  Cut all the broccoli into 1/4" pieces.  Put them in a pot along with the water or stock and the salt.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then remove from the heat and set aside for now.  Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat and add the onions.  Stir and cook for about ten minutes, until the onions are tender and golden, then add the garlic and the flour.  Let cook for a minute, then whisk in the milk.   Stir or whisk continuously as it thickens and begins to bubble.  Add the broccoli and its cooking water and stir to combine.  Let the soup simmer for at least a few minutes, adding the optional cheese and lots of black pepper.  Enjoy in the company of good people.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Strawberry Salsa

This time last year: Sugar Snap Peas in Brown Butter

I hope you're as lucky as I am.  I mean, I hope that all of you have a friend, at least one friend, that you can count on and love and who thinks you're wonderful even if you say things that are in poor taste sometimes.  Also, for me, it helps if that dear friend loves food as much as you do!   Last week at my friend Sarah's cottage birthday party, I knew that we'd eat some great food and have some great laughs, the kind that can only come when you're re-telling the same story you've told for just about twenty years, and have maybe drunk a few mojitos.  I brought along some strawberry salsa....


Strawberry Salsa

1 pint Local Strawberries
1 medium Tomato
1/2 C. diced Onion
2 T. Chopped Cilantro
1 T. Chopped Mint
1 t. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
1 t. Hot Sauce, or to taste

Dice the strawberries and tomatoes and combine with the rest of the ingredients.  The mint is really lovely, but could be left out if you can't find any (not a problem for anyone who's ever planted it.)



 Desperation Baked Tortilla Chips

We're short of snack food on purpose right now and it just wasn't going so well.  I remembered I had some corn tortillas in my freezer and made these.  Guess what?  They didn't suck AT ALL.  I'm going to be making these often.

6 Corn Tortillas
2 t. Canola Oil
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 t. Ground Cumin



Preheat the oven to 350.  Stack the tortillas and cut into sixths.  Transfer to a large bowl and drizzle the oil over.  Toss, then sprinkle on the salt and cumin.  Toss again and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes (chips will crisp as they cool).



Cilantro Avocado Dip with Yogurt

Can I convince you to try another guacamole recipe?  This one is so yummy!  "Some of the best guac I've ever had" says Sean Peori.

1 ripe Avocado
1/2 clove Garlic
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 C. Yogurt
2 T. Cilantro
1/4 C. minced Onion


Mash the avocado in a medium bowl.  Mince the garlic with the salt and add to the bowl.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and dig in.  This will keep quite well for a couple days with plastic wrap pressed right to its surface (the only sure way to prevent browning).

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Strawberry Summer: Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake


 This time last year: Steamed Lobster: A How-To Guide



My nephew Kieran and I have just returned from picking strawberries.  In fact, this year, I have picked strawberries three times, a chore I would not usually look forward to!  That's because I've finally discovered a lovely U-Pick just down the road.  I might have gone there sooner, but it's not set up like your typical berry farm.  First, you can't see the strawberry plants from the road.  Second, there's a sign outside the farmhouse, but until you work up the nerve to knock on the door, there's no one in sight.

Gatehill Farm is on a quiet dirt road on the North Mountain.  It's an old shingled farmhouse with a collection of outbuildings and it truly feels like you've stepped back in time when you pull into the driveway. Smoke curls out of the chimney, even in July.

 Gatehill Farm doesn't use chemical sprays, yet their berries are magnificent.  Some of the strawberries were the size of apples, and still they were amazingly sweet and delicious!  Another bonus of this U-Pick is that it's always cooler on the Mountain, so picking is a lot more pleasant than in the Valley.

Some of my haul this week went to the Cafe, where we decided that since everyone is just about sick of Strawberry Shortcake, we would do something a little different.  And so we made:


Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake serves 12

These scones are adapted from EveryDay with Rachael Ray (hey, a good recipe is a good recipe).

2 C. Flour
1/2 C. Cocoa Powder (we use Just Us!)
1/3 C. Sugar
2 t. Baking Powder
3/4 t. Baking Soda
1/8 t. Salt
1 C. Butter, cut into pieces
1 C. Chocolate Chips
3/4 C. Milk
1 T. Vinegar
1 Egg
6T. Sugar, divided
2 Quarts Local Strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 C. Whipping Cream
1/2 t. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 400° and butter a baking sheet.  In a food processor, combine flour, cocoa, 1/3 C. sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the butter pieces and pulse until coarse crumbs form.  Place mixture in a large bowl and add the chocolate chips.  Mix the egg, milk and vinegar in a small bowl, then add to the flour mix and stir just until the dough comes together.  Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a 6 inch round, and place on the baking sheet.  Using a sharp knife dipped in water, cut each into 6 equal wedges, leaving them in place.  Sprinkle with two tablespoons sugar, then bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm in the centre.  Let cool, then break apart into wedges.
Combine the strawberries with two tablespoons sugar.  Whip the cream until soft peaks form, then add the remaining two tablespoons sugar and vanilla.  Split the scones in half and layer with the strawberries and cream.  The proper order is scone-berries-cream-scone-cream-berries in case you're unsure!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Little Vegetable Dishes

This time last year: Honey Curry Dip  and Hodge Podge



We just got back from a weekend camping trip at Kejimkujik.  Six adults, three kids and a dog.  Glorious weather.  Lots of food.  We returned to sites we've been camping on for twenty five years, in a warm forest that smells just like I remember every year and feels like home.  I strung a hammock between two trees, set up a giant tent and a makeshift kitchen. The kids and I hiked, swam, threw rocks and pigged out.  As I've told you before here, we like to eat well, and it can get a little out of hand.  On our way home yesterday I was looking forward to a little balance!  We decided to have a supper of vegetables.

One of the most memorable meals of my life was when I was living with some girls in a one room cabin on Saltspring Island.  It was summer and we had gone to the market and come back with a huge assortment of vegetables.  We cooked each in different ways, made some cheesy garlic bread, and sat down to feast.  A meal of small vegetable dishes can be enormously satisfying (even without cheese bread).  It doesn't need to be a huge production, and everything can be served at room temperature if that's how the timing works out.  This time of year, markets and home gardens are vegetable bonanzas and you don't want to be limited to just a few at suppertime!

Some of my favourite simple vegetable dishes of the season are Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions, Sugar Snap Peas in Brown Butter, Parsley Potatoes, and Roasted Asparagus.  If you click around the All Things Vegetable section of this site, you'll find lots more ideas as well.  And here's one more.

Warm Spinach and Tomato Salad

2 t. Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic
8 oz Spinach, washed and chopped
1 medium Tomato, cut in chunks

Heat the oil over medium heat in a frying pan for a minute, then add the garlic.  When the garlic sizzles, stir in the spinach and a pinch of salt.  Stir for about thirty seconds, until the spinach begins to wilt, then add the tomato.  Cook for another minute at the most, just until the tomatoes have heated through.  Remove from the heat and serve hot or at room temperature.