FFWD – Salty-Sweet Potato Far

November 26, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 16 Comments

I’m a little (okay, a lot) late with this week’s post (well, last week’s). I finally managed to make this Breton classic today. My version was gluten-free and wasn’t bad. I skipped the raisins, doubled down on the prunes, and added Emmentaler (after reading Mardi and Betsy’s exchange on the French Fridays site). The cheese was a good addition. I ate it with a salmon cake and some greens, but I think the leftovers are going to be treated in a more brunch-like fashion.

Will I finish it? Yes. Will I make it again? Probably not, unless it wows Kevin when he tries it tomorrow.

Next Tuesday, I’ll tell you about what December has in store for folks around here. But before that, I’ll see you for French (Toast) Friday.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Salty-Sweet Potato Far

FFWD: Hurry-Up-and-Wait Roast Chicken – A Catch Up

November 15, 2013November 15, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 12 Comments

This week’s recipe is Chestnut and Pear Soup, but that’s not what I have for you today. Instead, I’m going to tell you about a recipe the gang did earlier this month, a roast chicken with an unusual twist. I’ll also tell you a bit about what I was getting up to instead of sourcing chestnuts and making soup.

Hurry-Up-and-Wait Roast Chicken is cooked for about an hour on high heat, starting on one side and then flipped to the other mid-roast. I used carrots, potatoes, and a few cloves of garlic to prop up my bird and stuffed it with half an apple and half an onion. Along with a cup of white wine (courtesy of the Doristas who attended IFBC), there was about two cups of jus, even it was boiled and thickened a bit, while the bird was resting (on an angle) under a foil tent. This method makes for a tender, juicy bird and no leftovers. The vegetables were cooked perfectly, too. It was a perfect one pot meal.

Now for the reason I’m not going to be tackling this week’s recipe until Sunday. Post-harvest season has traditionally been a little lacklustre for some of the agricultural vendors of the Fraser Valley. So, the farmers have gotten creative. This Wednesday, my mother and I headed over to Krause Berry Farms for their customer appreciation night. It included bakery samples and wine tastings and a first look at this year’s Christmas food and craft offerings. Each year it seems the Krause family expands their retail complex, allowing the farm to offer their produce in new ways. Now, you can enjoy meals, cooking classes, wine tastings, and more throughout the summer, fall, and holiday seasons. It’s a survival strategy in a market with a narrow margin, but it’s also enriching the cultural landscape out in the Valley.

The next day, we visited Campbell’s Gold Honey Farm to pick out (and taste) some honey wines for upcoming holiday meals. They’re taking part in the Abbotsford Circle Farm Tour‘s Passport to Christmas, which offers substantial prize draws to visitors of six or more of the farms on the list. It’s a great way to promote off-season visits to farm retail outlets and allows for some great early Christmas shopping, too. I’ll be back to visit some more of the participants before Christmas, for sure.

I admire the way that farmers are finding ways to survive in this economic climate, while making the Valley a much more interesting place than I remember it being when I was growing up there. I also like the opportunity to see where all the local food I’m touting comes from. It’s grounding in the most literal of senses.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Hurry-Up-and-Wait Roast Chicken

FFWD: Compote de Pommes Two Ways

November 8, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

One thing I appreciate about these French Fridays is the way Dorie’s French take on familiar recipes forces me out of my flavouring habits. Usually, my apple sauce is full of warm apple pie flavours – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom. This compote de pommes relies on vanilla, instead, to bring out the flavour of the apple.

We’re well into autumn here, so much so that I’m going to have to pull out the rake this weekend and start on the fallen leaves, spreading them over the vegetable garden, once I finish its fall clean up. My flower garden is still going strong, though, especially the dahlias, which are continuing to bloom. Nothing feels urgent outside now. These tasks are simply waiting for me, unlike the weeds of spring and summer, who wait for no one.

Fall and winter cooking doesn’t feel urgent either, the worry that I’m not making the most of something before it’s gone just doesn’t apply to storage fruits and vegetables. The process of cooking slows down, too, with soups and stews and compotes like this one warming the kitchen and the belly.

I made enough of this compote to enjoy of ice cream (or rather, Coconut Bliss) tonight, with lots left over to stir into yogurt tomorrow morning. Next time, I think I’ll make a bigger batch. I haven’t made an applesauce cake in far too long.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Compote de Pommes Two Ways

FFWD – Boeuf à la Mode

October 25, 2013October 25, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 7 Comments

Today’s French Fridays recipe is actually Muenster Cheese Soufflés, but I didn’t join in, because soufflé is something I reserve for the gluten-eaters in my life and I haven’t had an opportunity to cook for any of them in some time. I have also been neglecting my blog lately, too. I can’t believe it’s been a month! It was a busy one, but I’m back.

Today, I’m sharing something I made when the rest of the group did, but didn’t have an opportunity to post. Boeuf à la Mode is pot roast really, braised in a beautiful burgundy wine that the Doristas who attended IFBC sent to me in an amazingly generous care package last month.

They also sent Cher and her husband Joe to deliver it. I was sad to miss the conference, but meeting Cher more than made up for it. She and Joe are really lovely people and I’m happy I got a chance to meet them. Cher let me know that Susan and Betsy ran around to all the sample tables picking up treats for me. Thank you so much! Kevin was thrilled with all the gluten-free treats, especially. I’m just glad that Cher and Joe didn’t get a customs bill for all the IFBC gear they brought over the border! Thanks to all of you for the treats. I especially loved the note from Susan and John and have been showing off the Trevor-designed button proudly.

As for the pot roast, I cooked it one day and served it the next. With its long marinade at the beginning, it became a weekend project, really. The results were worth it. Very rich, especially with the addition of a couple of anchovies. I halved the recipe (which left me with some wine for drinking), and it worked really well. The photo above doesn’t do it justice. The edges were actually perfectly browned, though they seem black in the photo. I’ll be making this one again.

I also want to wish Dorie a happy belated Birthday. Several of the gang posted special birthday greetings for her yesterday. I’ll be making the rosemary and olive oil version of her French Yogurt Cake from Baking From My Home to Yours this weekend and will have a slice in her honour.

See you all next week. In the meantime, I’m going to be catching up on everyone’s blog posts.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Boeuf à la Mode

FFWD – Tuna-Packed Piquillo Peppers

September 21, 2013October 25, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 6 Comments

Living vicariously can only be so satisfying. I’ve been glued to my Twitter and Facebook feeds this weekend, as many of our most beloved Doristas attended IFBC in Seattle. I languished at home, nursing my “Last-Minute McCarthy” moniker, because I couldn’t commit. While I pouted, Trix, another NON-attendee, drank wine and floated the hashtag #suckitDoristas on Twitter to drown her sorrows. I think Mardi wins for most mature, as she stuck to compliments and encouragements on the conference attendees’ social media channels.

Even in my funk, I managed to make this week’s recipe, though there were no piquillo peppers in sight. I was seduced at the Food Co-op by some pretty little organic purple peppers, which I substituted for the intended star of the show. I want to prolong that summer freshness for a little while longer, so the crunch of sweet, raw pepper was more appealing than the wintry-seeming jarred variety. I kept to the recipe otherwise, though our dog claimed a little bit of the tuna meant for the filling.

These were a hit – sweet, hot, salty, tangy, and minty – hard to go wrong, right? There may or may not have been some Okanagan red involved in the meal, but you should just put that down to my sour grapes (the Okanagan ones weren’t, though; they were just right).

Tomorrow there’ll be a little balm for my wound – I get to meet Cher, one of our most stalwart Doristas. I’m looking forward to it!

And just so you know, I did make the chops from last week – twice, in fact. Both times, though, I neglected to take pictures. I think it just went out of my head, once I saw how perfectly cooked they were. My chops were venison, so I modified the herbs a bit, using a mix of rosemary and sage. I marinated them for a day (which really draws out the gaminess – though these chops were from a young buck which, according to my Dad, is as sweet as candy). I also made the rosemary butter ahead, too. The herbs were from my garden, we served them with the last of the green beans from the garden, and the rosemary butter that topped the chops also went into some lovely smashed potatoes. All you’ve got is my word for it though, because I forgot all about my camera for those meals.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Tuna-Packed Piquillo Peppers

FFWD – Floating Islands

September 1, 2013September 1, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 17 Comments

I struggle to reconcile my contradictions, sometimes. I can be a book snob, but secretly loved it when my oldest niece requested that I read the Harry Potter series, so that we could discuss the novels’ themes. I love trying new restaurants and exploring interesting shops, but I’m horrified by the displacement of the poor that’s happening in some of our newly hip neighbourhoods. Suburban-raised and city-dwelling, university-educated and a little downwardly-mobile, my contradictions are predictable, but bothersome all the same.

One contradiction I’m not so bothered by is my love of both old fashioned, family-style cooking and complicated, elegant fare. I’ve been making simple cookies like Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Crinkles since I was a child, but I was just as happy to learn how to make this week’s French Fridays recipe, Îles flottantes. Especially since, like so many of Dorie’s recipes, it’s easier than it looks.

Dorie’s recipes for both the meringue and the Crème Anglaise divide nicely, so I was able to make just enough for Kevin and me (there may have been seconds involved, but I’m pretty sure there are no witnesses to attest to that).

I thought about making some of Dorie’s Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce to serve with the Floating Islands, but instead ran down the street to Woodland Smokehouse and Commissary and picked up some Earnest Ice Cream. Their pints, in adorable, and returnable, little jars, are just indulgent enough for the two of us. I passed over Whiskey Hazelnut, Tahitian Vanilla, and Cardamom, settling on Milk Chocolate, instead. It’s like a Dairy Milk in a jar and was a perfect counterpoint to the intense vanilla of the Crème Anglaise.

I’m quite positive that I’m going to continue to be of two minds about a lot of things, but not about this dessert. Now, if I can just manage to make it to Dîner en Blanc next year, I think I’ve got a perfectly elegant picnic dessert up my sleeve.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Floating Islands

FFWD – Duck Breasts With Fresh Peaches

August 9, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 14 Comments

For the first few years my parents had the farm, they raised Muscovy ducks, the domesticated white variety. Their eggs were a pleasure to bake with and their meat was delicious. Unfortunately, the bald eagles that lived nearby were awfully fond of them, too, so they disappeared one by one. Eventually, my parents tired of replenishing the eagles’ larder and stuck to chickens and geese after that.

I don’t have duck often now, so it’s nice to have a reminder of how easily it makes a delicious meal. This week’s dish required turning on the oven and a little time in front of the stove, on a hot summer’s day. It was worth braving the extra heat for this combination of duck with the peaches that are just hitting their peak here.

I only made a quarter of the recipe, as I knew I’d be eating it alone. I had some lovely peaches I’d picked up at Kerrisdale Farmers Market earlier in the week and I was eager to put them to good use. They were clingstone, so the finished dish wasn’t exactly as Dorie had envisioned it, but they were organic, perfectly ripe, and delicious nevertheless.

I used one for the duck dish and sliced the rest up for this peach crisp, which I modified by adding more (gluten-free) oats to the topping and reducing the amount of (again, gluten-free) flour. I should have made some modifications to the bottom as well, though. Next time, I’ll combine the sour cream mixture with the fruit, while adding some spices or herbs. As written, it’s good, but a little blander than I’d like.

As for the duck, Dorie’s instructions were perfect, save for the temperature of the pan. I had to turn it down from medium-high to a little less than medium to keep from burning the skin of the duck. The pan sauce was perfectly balanced, balsamic and white vinegars against the honey and port wine. (I made a half recipe of the sauce, and sopped the extra up with a little bread.)

This made a perfect summer meal, with some salad on the side, but it would also make a lovely summer appetizer, too. Especially for those prudent enough to take their cooking outside.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Duck Breasts With Fresh Peaches

FFWD – Tzatziki

August 2, 2013May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 14 Comments

The neighbourhood next to mine is called Hastings-Sunrise, though it’s also been branded The East Village by its business association. It’s only a few blocks away, but it’s in the opposite direction from my regular shopping route, so I don’t get over there as often as I’d like. This afternoon, I decided to get out of my usual routine and head east rather than south. My first stop was Black Rook Bakehouse, which I’ve been meaning to check out since it opened. They’ve got gorgeous pies, cakes, and cookies, along with breads and savoury pot pies, but I settled on a slice of chocolate-threaded banana bread, for an after-errands treat. The lovely shopkeeper threw in a loaf of potato bread, since they were about to close for the long weekend. I’ll be back for some more of that, on my own dime next time. Next, I stopped in at Donald’s Market, for some late-season strawberries and some gluten-free oatmeal. (There are going to be basil-blackberry crumbles all summer long, I think, so I need to be well-stocked with oatmeal.)

You’re probably wondering right about now what all this has to do with this week’s recipe, aren’t you? My next stop is the segueway. Rio Friendly Meats lives up to its name, or rather, its staff does. They stock an array of house-made sausages, along with great cuts of meat. It was the chicken breasts marinating in Greek spices that I came for, though. I thought they’d go perfectly with this week’s Tzatziki, and I was right.

We ate quite late tonight, so I don’t have any photos for you, but I served the oven-roasted chicken with a dollop of tzatziki and a salad on the side (which included the first of the yellow zucchinis from my garden). The tzatziki was also wonderful as a dip for vegetables and rice crackers this afternoon. Tomorrow, the leftovers are going to stand in for cottage cheese in a Greek-style version of last week’s Dieter’s Tartine on that amazing potato bread (for me) and some Udi’s gluten-free bread (for Kevin).

I’m not sure why I haven’t been making my own tzatziki up until now, but I’ll be making up for that omission in future. At a quarter of the recipe, it’s just right for us for two or three days of Greek-inspired eating.

And as for Hastings-Sunrise, I hardly did it justice with my three paltry stops today. If you’re interested in what the neighbourhood has to offer, the folks at Vancouver East Village have done a wonderful job of covering all its businesses and amenities.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Tzatziki

FFWD – Goat Cheese & Strawberry Tartine

June 7, 2013June 7, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 24 Comments

My partner and I went through a period of fascination with simple living. The net result was adding about a dozen books to our already-overflowing shelves. Simplicity isn’t something that comes naturally to me, obviously.

So, it’s not surprising that my solution to weekend breakfast is often, “Let’s just go out.” Elaborate recipes swirl around in my head, when all I really want to do is have a leisurely conversation or a lazy look through the newspaper. An hour in the kitchen and a sinkful of dishes isn’t as appealing as brunch in the summer sunshine (or, truthfully, peering out at the summer sunshine from a suitably shady spot).

Enter a little reminder that a satisfying, elegant breakfast need not be complicated – this week’s French Fridays dish is a simple tartine. Toasted chunks of baguette slathered with goat cheese, then topped with some sliced strawberries, a little balsamic, and a dusting of fresh pepper. Enough to satisfy mid-morning hunger and wake up the senses.

It was easy enough to make a gluten-free plateful for Kevin, too. With some sea salt rice crackers in place of the baguette, and a distinct absence of balsamic and pepper, he declared these a perfect pre-breakfast snack.

My bookshelves may need a good purge, my cupboards and closets a little organization, and my garden ever more weeding, but this morning I was content to…ahem…simply enjoy these tartines with a nice cup of tea. There’s a whole summer ahead to catch up on the rest.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Goat Cheese & Strawberry Tartine

FFWD – Anne Le Blanc´s Pistachio Avocado

May 31, 2013May 31, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 18 Comments

We’re entering the green days, when all the work of the rain and sun come to fruition. Which you know, sounds great, but in reality means being perpetually behind on weeding the garden. This week’s recipe is the essence of green without the work, soft slices of avocado drizzled with a little lemon and a lot of (homemade) pistachio oil. I decided to make my own pistachio oil, using this recipe, in part because I was feeling crafty and in part because I didn’t want to buy a whole bottle of the stuff. The combination of pistachio, lemon, and avocado made a nice appetizer tonight. The rest of the 1/4 recipe I made of the pistachio oil is destined for tomorrow night’s vinaigrette. I have no regrets having made my own oil, but I might invest in a bottle of the proper stuff, after all. It is the season of fresh (food) greens and there will be a lot of vinaigrettes (and perhaps a pistachio avocado or two) this summer.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend the weekend ridding my garden of the improper green stuff to make room for sunflowers, dahlias, and cosmos. There will even be a little bean-planting in the vegetable garden, if the rain holds off.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Anne Le Blanc´s Pistachio Avocado

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