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

Hello, August

July 30, 2013May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 2 Comments

The organized folks I know are planning (maybe even planting) their fall vegetable gardens, now. I need to take some time away from tracking the development of my beans and squash and plot out the chards and kales and lettuces of the coming cooler weather, I guess. It’s awfully tempting to stare at my sunflowers a while, instead.

Even so, I’ve managed to clear out the garden space that’s destined to become a tiny meditation garden for Kevin. I’m excited because it’s going to include a fig tree from the garden of my mother’s friend Gina, who also provided me with about seventeen dahlias that are getting ready to bloom, now.

Summer’s full of things to do beyond the backyard, though. Here are a few that might tempt Vancouverites away from home in the next little while:

We’re in the midst of Pride Week here, with a raft of activities, including the enormous Parade, which has been officially declared a civic event for the first time in Vancouver. Then, starting mid-August, it’s the 25th Anniversary edition of the Vancouver Queer Film Festival.

Twenty-five years may seem like a long run, but the Powell Street Festival, is in its 37th year of celebrating Vancouver’s Japanese community. It’s this coming weekend and it’s always great.

West Vancouver (a separate country, really) has a festival this weekend, too. The Harmony Arts Festival includes music, film, food, visual arts, and performance.

Or for some genuine high culture, with a view to boot, head down to Bard on the Beach. They’ve got a fantastic line up this year and my personal pick is Elizabeth Rex, by the much missed Timothy Findley.

Emily Carr University’s Yellow Crane Festival is running from August 1st through 4th. You can pick up some pieces from current students or recent alumni, while enjoying the atmosphere of one of Vancouver’s prettiest urban spots.

That’s just a smidgen of what’s on offer here, of course. So tell me, what’s going on in your neck of the woods this summer?

FFWD – Dieter’s Tartine

July 26, 2013July 30, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 30 Comments

“But for all this, she was putting on weight; for if she did not eat she drank, as everyone did. From the first sundowner, gulped down hastily to give her vitality after the hours of work, she drank steadily through the evening until she arrived back in her room in the small hours, slightly tipsy, if not drunk. She was only doing as everyone else did; and if someone pointed out to her, ‘You are living on sandwiches, sundowner snacks, and alcohol, you are sleeping three hours a night,’ he would probably have gotten for his pains a dark and uncomprehending stare; for that was not how life felt to Martha; it was a rush of delicious activity, which, however, was just beginning to flag.”

Doris Lessing, from Martha Quest

I’m not a fan of dieting – the industry, the fads, the body policing, the class profiling, or the skewing of priorities that can be seen in the quotation, above. I am a fan of fresh, delicious, easy meals in the summertime, however. This week’s recipe may fit the first category, but more importantly for me, it fits the second one, too. My version of this simple tartine consisted of sourdough rye topped with a creamy cottage cheese (no need to add sour cream) and a mixture of orange pepper and English cucumber. I dressed it with an Herbes de Provence fleur de sel and some freshly ground pepper. My chives aren’t doing that well in the record-nearing dry spell we’ve been experiencing this summer, or I would have used some of those, too. (If you check out the link, let me know if you agree with my assessment that the presenter’s glasses likely date from that record dry spell year.)

Later this summer, I’ll make it with radishes, yellow zucchini, cucumbers, or tomatoes from my own garden. For now, I’m content to use the local produce (from farmers who get their stuff into the ground in a timely fashion, unlike me) that abounds this time of year. A drizzle of olive oil, balsamic, or both wouldn’t be misplaced, but I liked it without, this evening. Next time, I think I’ll rub a garlic clove on the toast before I dress it.

As for dieting, I’ll eschew it in favour of moderation in all things (even moderation) and some love and respect for my genetic heritage – all the little French Canadian women on my mother’s side of the family end up a bit round in middle age. And with that, I think I’ll have a dish of this blackberry basil crumble, which was fresh and easy, too, made with basil from my garden and the accursed blackberries that afflict my backyard.

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

FFWD – Whole-Cherry Clafoutis

July 12, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

You may be asking yourself, Teresa who? I’ve been absent a while, haven’t I? I fell down the rabbit hole of some contract work, but I’m glad to be back, and I can’t wait to see all your versions of this cake…pudding…pudding-cake. Maybe I’ll just stick to clafoutis, it’s more fun to say, anyway.

Cherries are just hitting the market here, so the timing of this week’s recipe was perfect, as was this dish. I’ll be having my second slice shortly.

So what does your summer hold? Mine’s going to include a lot of canning, a lot of planning, and (I hope) a week or two of relaxation in September.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Whole-Cherry Clafoutis

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

Mardi reminded me that Google Reader’s about to expire, so I’ve set up shop at Bloglovin’: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Nearly Fall in the Garden

September 18, 2012September 17, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 9 Comments

Canada is generally thought of as the land of ice and snow, but that’s not true all year ’round, even in the North. Vancouver is especially an exception to this rule. We generally get about a week of snow each year, which sends our road systems into a tailspin. (We’re infamous here for not being able to drive in the snow.) All this is to say that my garden is still going strong, though I’m looking up recipes for green tomatoes, as I know a lot of them aren’t ever going to fully ripen this year.

We’re in the last few weeks of the summer growing season. If we’re lucky, the good weather will last into the first few weeks of October. I’ve planted some winter garden vegetables, but I’m mostly reflecting on what worked and what didn’t this season. I won’t be growing tomatoes in the backyard next year and am going to invest in some big tubs so that I can grow them on my south-facing balcony, instead. I think they’ll ripen much faster there. I’m also going to build some new vegetable and herb beds this fall, for next year. The flowers mostly take care of themselves, but I want to add plants that will extend colour through the seasons. These are my reflections so far.

So tell me, what did you love about your outdoor space this summer? What would you change? I’ll leave you with some more of the photos I took yesterday afternoon, out in the garden.

FFWD – Eggplant “Tartine” with Tomatoes, Olives, and Cucumbers

September 7, 2012August 31, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 21 Comments

It’s been a good couple of weeks for eggplant dishes. I went to a friend’s birthday dinner recently and the appetizer was a thick, roasted slice of eggplant topped with goat cheese and ribbons of bell pepper. Today’s French Fridays recipe is another delicious take on roasted eggplant. This time, the eggplant is topped with a tomato salad and ribbons of cucumber.

It’s a “tartine” because the roasted eggplant stands in for bread, making it both a great way to enjoy summer produce and a good option for gluten-free eating. The salad is tossed in a red wine vinegar-oregano vinaigrette and balances the sweetness of the tomatoes with the sharpness of onions and celery and the saltiness of olives and capers. The flavours are well-balanced and the textures are varied and interesting.

We had these “tartines” as a side dish alongside steamed bush beans and spaghetti with homemade pesto. It made for a lovely summer meal. I think I’ll also keep this in mind for the next time Kevin and I have a party – I think it will please our gluten-loving and gluten-free guests alike.

In the meantime, I’m going to use this dish as inspiration to use the remaining weeks of garden season to experiment with summer produce – it’s often too easy to just pop veggies into the steamer and be done with it. I love steamed vegetables, but there really is so much more.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Eggplant “Tartine” with Tomatoes, Olives, and Cucumbers

Food Trucks and Summer’s End

September 4, 2012May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 5 Comments

The Labour Day weekend has just passed and for many of us, that signals summer’s end. Though summery weather around these parts (barring early torrential rains) seems to last into October some years, September usually marks the end of community celebrations and summer programs.

With that in mind, I decided to stop by the last day of one of my neighbourhood’s most popular events this summer – The Waldorf Hotel‘s Food Cart Festival, which has been taking over their parking lot every Sunday since the end of July. I took a few photos there and indulged in a double-decker cone from Earnest Ice Cream – their salted caramel was perfect and the strawberry-basil made me want to run home and roast some strawberries right away to recapture the flavour. But I digress…

The Food Truck Festival is a great example of the zeitgeist in Vancouver these day – a nice selection of local food (in those trendy trucks); pedestrian and bike friendly; a neighbourhood event that attracts folks from all over the city. Along with VIVA Vancouver and the community celebrations funded by Neighbourhood Small Grants, Vancouver’s summer street scene is becoming a lot more vibrant.

Speaking of Neighbourhood Small Grants, a group of neighbours planted this herb garden I passed today. I thought it was a lovely concept.

So tell me, does your community promote street-level interaction? What are the community events that define summer for you?

FFWD – Cafe Style Grated Carrot Salad

August 17, 2012August 21, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 38 Comments

There’s a restaurant on the west side of Vancouver called The Naam that’s open 24 hours. It’s a vegetarian restaurant that seems left over from the hippie era. When I was in University we’d drive across town to go there in the middle of the night, famished after late study sessions. The staff back then tended to be in a somewhat…altered…state and it could be quite a while before any of the servers noticed you. Once they did, they always got your order right, but it could be up to an hour before the food arrived at your table. Actually, it was a couple of hours more than once. At least there was never any lag between the order coming up and the food arriving at the table.

As long as I could flag someone down to bring me a cup of tea, I didn’t mind. It was that time of life when there was so much to say and hear that sleep seemed like a terrible waste of time. (Funnily, none of us seemed to feel that way about sleep in the mornings.)

The food there is good, in that granola way. In fact, their miso gravy is so good that they bottle it and sell it in stores now. It’s mostly healthy, too – with additions like shredded carrot and beet in their salads and as a garnish for many of their plates. I always enjoyed that, but I’ve recently learned that a friend of mine absolutely did not and as a result, was often frustrated when she went there. She would ask for it to be left off her plate, but the (aforementioned, less-than-fully-alert) staff would always bring her meal with carrot and beet. The hippie obsession with shredded veggies is not a universal taste, it seems.

This salad, though it’s a grated slaw rather than a shredded garnish, reminds me of those days, Even with its slightly sophisticated apple cider-Dijon vinaigrette, it still has the flavour of the sort of virtuously vegetarian fare that a hippie restaurant serves.

I didn’t stray from the recipe, really, though I left out the suggested raisins and toasted the chopped walnuts before I added them. It would make a nice side for a picnic or barbeque, wherever anyone would serve traditional coleslaw. It would make a nice addition to a salad, too. When I make it again, I think I’ll throw in a mixture of the sorts of seeds, nuts, and dried fruits I often add to salads. Another easy, versatile template recipe from Around My French Table to add to my repertoire.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Cafe Style Grated Carrot Salad