I took these pictures while foraging for blackberries just around the corner from our campsite in Massassauga Provincial Park. The park is a Unesco World Biosphere Reserve. The second biosphere I have visited this year!
That smush on the right Polaroid is the remains of an unfortunate mosquito. I like nature, I really do. But feast on my blood and the love fest is over. I do not hold hands with blood suckers.
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I have a longer post about my trip to Columbus, Ohio coming up but until then a station break about cherry season. It’s on! While I was away Davin went cherry picking just for me, bringing home a giant basket of fresh deliciousness. Picking that basket was preceded by a 13 km hike. What a guy.
Of course within a matter of days what initially felt like a windfall has dwindled in my minds eye. Need. More. Cherries. I stopped by one of our local farmers markets to grab a snack on the way home the other day. One of the farmers was selling baskets of cherries and even though I had that giant basket at home, I actually considered buying another. Or two. The only thing that held me back was the knowledge that our freezer is currently stuffed to the gills with frozen strawberries with not an inch of space left for anything more.
Note to self: Eat strawberries, stat.
In preparation for cherry season I have been dreaming about the things I will make when the time arrives. Now that it has, the pressure is on to use those precious cherries wisely. Last night I rolled out Cherry Season 2008 with a show stopping dish, Cherry Clafoutis aka Clafouti. If you’ve never had this French dessert it’s basically fresh fruit baked in an eggy, custard-like batter or pudding. I used this recipe as a starting point with a few revisions (I don’t think I have followed a recipe verbatim in my entire life). It was high on the egg side but very tasty. I substituted sugar with agave syrup and added a drop or two of amaretto extract because I didn’t have almond extract on hand. I thought about trying the recipe with almond milk but used the last of it in a smoothie made earlier that day. I did add little pats of butter and a sprinkling of maple sugar before broiling but to be honest I don’t think either was necessary and made the dish sweeter than I’d like.
All-in-all the clafoutis was REALLY good but I have my sights set on making one with a dough base. The base will add some additional weight to the dish and compliment the soft custard. If anyone has a recipe like that please share! I haven’t yet determined if I should cook the dough slightly before adding the custard or just plop it all in the dish. Either way I guess I’ll have a tasty time working it out.
If you haven’t made a dessert like this before and are intimidated, don’t be! Prep was done in a blender and took only a few minutes. From there the only stress was watching the oven to be sure it didn’t overcook on the bottom. And that’s what egg timers were made for.
You’ll love it!
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I was invited to an apartment warming at my brother’s newish place the other night and since I had already treated him to a whole new garden, hereby known as “The Gift That Covers Me Off for Gift Giving Until 2010,” I decided I wanted to bring something but that that something should be simple and not cost money. The great thing about gardening, beyond the thousands of other more important reasons, is that there is always something available last-minute to gift to friends. I can just step outside and find homegrown edibles or flowers in a pinch that just about anyone will appreciate.
After all, who doesn’t like homegrown food or flowers? Granted, I’m sure if we looked hard enough we could find one or two out there in America but still…
As I was saying, a gift was in order. A gift that says, “Congratulations on your new apartment! Here’s something nice and useful to commemorate a meaningful life step but, you know, you’re my brother and dude, until I get a higher paying job or miraculously unearth a winning scratch ticket buried in the street garden… enjoy some quality homegrown herbs and edible delights.” Of course, I’m saying that cynically because in truth a winning scratch ticket would not change my desire to share the homegrown goodness. I’d just wrap it all in fresh, crisp hundred dollar bills.
And that is what I did (minus the cash money). My brother has been speaking highly of his new herb garden and all of the delicious herbed omelets he has been enjoying however I knew his plants were still small and were probably strained by enthusiastic and vigorous picking. My plants on the other hand are all well-established. I am actually over-run this year with sage, oregano and marjoram. I have been making herbal bouquets for myself for some time now and it only made sense to harvest a selection of yummy herbs, tie it up like a floral bouquet and give it as a gift. Flowers are nice but this bouquet keeps on giving. What’s more my bouquet was literally free since the butcher paper and twine was recycled from the packaging used to wrap flowers bought at the market. Yes, I have become my grandmother, holding onto every last scrap of packaging in hope of a possible future use.
The bouquet I made for my brother is not the one depicted. That one included garlic scapes I had picked just that day, as well as a selection of assorted thyme varieties and large sprigs of fresh rosemary. The gift was a surprise hit with party goers wondering about that twisted oddity (garlic scapes) poking out of the bundle. I’m sure if my bouquet had included homegrown herbs of another sort I would have made a lot of new friends fast… however it did not and the love fest lasted a total of 10 minutes.
If you make your own, choose whatever you’ve got on hand or try for herbs that compliment one another. Help the recipient unwrap the package as soon as possible and get the herbs into water so that anything that has wilted can be revived. This is also your chance to talk about the herbs so your friend knows a garlic scape from a frightening alien life form and how they can use them in their next meal.
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I have to admit that I made this dessert BEFORE realizing that it was red and white, the perfect Canada Day summer treat. Americans can add blueberries for July 4. I came up with the idea ages ago and then waited in anticipation for strawberry season to hit so I could try it out. I had originally intended to cook the strawberries first but we got lazy after a day of work and just wanted to eat the thing already, so fresh strawberries were substituted.
We added a very thin sprinkle of maple sugar to the strawberries and the almond milk came pre-sweetened but no other sweeteners were added. Most of you will find the taste as-is too bland and will want to sweeten it up a bit.
A note about Kanten Flakes (Agar): Kanten flakes are a sea vegetable that can be cooked into juices and other liquids to form a gel, just like gelatin but without the animal bones. Plus, agar is full of vitamins and other good stuff.
Ingredients
Method
2. Pour the warm mix into cups or dessert dishes and refrigerate until cool and firm.
3. Dice fresh strawberries and spoon on top of firmed almond milk. Sweeten with a dash of maple sugar and serve.
Makes approx. 4-5 small dessert cups.
Rhubarb has come into season here in the cold north, and while I can’t say I’m much of a fan, my spouse is — I suppose its only fair that he gets to have something he likes every once and a while.
I’ve never grown rhubarb so I can’t tell you much about how to grow it except to say that if you live in the right climate it doesn’t seem to take much work. Growing up, it seemed anyone with a yard had a massive clump of rhubarb tucked into a back corner or next to a shed. Even the most untended yards, occupied by discarded household appliances and car parts, and home to extremely negligent residents managed to keep an old rhubarb (probably the remnant of a long gone former tenant) alive with barely a glance in its direction. While I figure rhubarb isn’t a particularly taxing plant to manage, we just don’t have the space to commit to a large, leafy plant whose season comes and goes in a heartbeat.
Every spring I buy a few stalks at the farmer’s market. While I don’t love the tartness, I can’t seem to resist those pretty, bright red stalks! And if you mix them up with the right ingredients rhubarb is actually kind of tasty.
Notes: You can double the Crisp Topping mix if you like a thick and crunchy topping. I added ginger and orange juice because we had some kicking around that was about to go off. It makes a very interesting flavor but of course you can omit both or all and still turn out a great tasting crisp.
Ingredients:
Crisp Topping
Chopped and diced fruit.
Method:
1. Place filling ingredients in a bowl and toss until the fruit is coated.
2. Dump ingredients into a 9″ square or round baking dish.
3. Combine crisp topping ingredients in a food processor. Mix until crumbly. Break up any large chunks of butter with a fork.
4. Spread the crisp topping evenly over the surface of the dish, covering all the fruit.
5. Bake at 350F until the topping is brown and the fruit is tender.
6. Serve warm or cold. It tastes good no matter how you eat it.
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