We Were Taking A Break

My husband and I had decided to take a break.  Not a Ross and Rachel kind of break, but a break from our OKFWW throwdown of duplicating all the dishes we ate in Penticton.  We had just done 3 dishes on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday was our day of rest.  We would rest on our laurels until next weekend.  Then, we looked at the weather forecast on Sunday afternoon.  FROST!  Here in Edmonton, our frost free days, the measure of what can grow in our region, are zealously watched.  We will cover up plants in the spring and the fall, just to keep stuff in the ground for as long as we can.  We had a big frost in the first part of June this year, so our garden was behind before it even started.  We have a delightful assortment of old bedsheets, that we press into action during these nights, and passers' by who may not be gardeners probably shake their heads and say....."those people are deluded.  They should just go to the store to get their veggies"

So, here we were on Sunday afternoon, with a dilemma.  Cover or pick?  We looked at the calendar, and then the long range forecast, and said   "There is a time when you have to throw in the bedsheet.  It's here".

So, we picked.  Four peach boxes full of tomatoes in varying states of ripeness, our peppers, 1 beautiful eggplant and 4 squash blossoms!  Three kinds of beets and the shallots........ 

I brought the basket of vegetables inside and there they were...... the squash blossoms.  We knew it would be next August before we saw another squash blossom, and one of our target dishes, from our dinner at the Naramata Inn  was

Garden Beets

Goat Cheese foam, squash tempura,

mustard vinaigrette

Naramata Inn Version

We hauled our sorry asses into the kitchen and started cooking.

We had 3 kinds of baby beets, golden, regular and chiogga.  They went into a pot to cook

We sent son number 3 to the store to get radish sprouts

We made a vinaigrette with Vinegar Works Apricot Vinegar, canola oil and grainy mustard

We made a goat cheese foam by stick blending chevre and whipping cream together
We made a light tempura batter
We bickered as we put it together

This is our creation.   It's a keeper (again)

Another Day Another 2 Imposter Dishes

 

"People.....get a life!"  No wonder my kitchen floor is so dirty and I don't seem to get my closets organized.  We go through manic periods of WAYYYYY TOO MUCH COOKING.........  Today is one of those days. 

We started this morning by getting ready for my mothers' chile sauce made from my garden tomatoes. Her recipe is from a 1950's Purity Cook Book. For some reason I have not made it before, but I remember  smelling it in the kitchen, as a child. When I started preserving foods myself, I made more chi chi recipes like chutney and salsa.  This is the first time for the chile sauce.  I can't wait to eat it with Vince's home made sausages.

And speaking of sausages.........while we were driving back from picking up our whole lamb order at Buffalo Valley Meats, we stopped at Princess Auto and bought a cylinder style sausage stuffer.  Vince is chomping at the bit to try that new gadget. 

So we came home, and then had to get going on our batch of bagels and mini baguettes, that we had started dough for last night.  Yes.....even Friday night we cooked way too much!  Then we had to plan for the lamb dish that we are making tonight as part of our Okanagan Food and Wine Writers Workshop throwdown.    The dish we were trying to replicate was described on the menu:

Roasted  Peace River Lamb Loin

New Potatoe Terrine Wrapped with Tyroler Bacon

Local Seasonal Vegetables

Cassis Jus

Well, we just got our fresh Alberta Lamb today
We have new potatoes and yellow zucchini from the City Centre Farmers Market in Edmonton

We have Hog Wild Wild Boar Bacon in the freezer

We have these marvellous mini peppers and cippolini onions that we scored at the Penticton Farmers Market last week
We have home made Cassis from our black currant bushes in our yard.
We made a reduced lamb stock from the bones from the lamb loin.

Our Version:  Potato Terrine is circular and we have more sauce!           

Cellar Door Bistro Version

Little Pears with Blue Cheese and Candied Pecans

Oh yeah...while we were hanging around doing nothing, we whipped together some delightful little bites that Joy Road Catering prepared for us at Township 7.  Bradley Cooper served a nice Viognier with the treats.  Difference on our variation is we used California Seckel Pears, Gorgonzola Cheese and Pecans candied in local honey instead of their all Okanagan ingredients.  (we need to move somewhere that has better stuff!)  If you want to see the "before" picture, go to the Dinner with Julie blog post.

No wonder we are tired.
Tomorrow we are picking all of the tomatoes from the garden, because summer is over.  Frost is coming. Sigh!

No recipes today........ If you would like me to create the recipe just ask.

Sumac Ridge Cellar Door Bistro Seared Atlantic Scallops

 

We were driving to work this morning, and I said to Vince,"We should do the first dish tonight. Let's make the Cellar Door Bistro Seared Atlantic Scallops with Risotto"  He said, "OK.  Can you remember what was in it?"

When I offered, on this blog,  to duplicate all the dishes that we ate last weekend at the Okanagan Food & Wine Writers Workshop, the organizer, Jennifer, asked  if I wanted some of the recipes, because she was going to contact the chefs and ask if they would share them.   My husband Vince said "Recipes......we don't need no stinkin' recipes!"  That sounds like a "throwdown" of sorts (forgive us Bobby Flay)

On the way home, we were making our list.  We would stop at the Italian Centre Shop to pick up chanterelles and a few other things we needed, and then on to Sobey's for Atlantic Scallops.  Kim, from Vinegar Works told us that she uses their Verjus in risotto instead of white wine, and we just happened to have a few bottles of that from our trip.

At the winery, the dish was served with  a 2007 BlackSage Vineyard Chardonnay.  This wine somehow ended up in our car!  How did that happen? 

At the restaurant, the chef came out and talked to us about his creation. I overheard a conversation about the sauce in the dish.  I think I heard him say that it was carrots cooked in stock, pureed, strained and finished with cream. If any of you out there were at that dinner, and were part of that conversation, you can correct us now!

So on we went!  It was fairly simple to put together.  I have created a recipe, which I will share. 

Sauce

2 carrots (we used local red carrots from the City Centre Farmers Market)
3/4 cup stock (we used homemade chicken, you could use vegetable if you like)
2 oz of full fat cream (whipping)

Peel and cut carrots into small dice.  Cook in the stock until the carrots are completely cooked.  Puree with a hand blender.  Add the cream, and cook more until reduced slightly. Season if you wish.  We added a splash of Verjus.  A squeeze of lemon would be acceptable as well.   Strain sauce through a seive and keep warm. We did not add any salt at all!

Risotto

1 small onion finely diced

3/4 cup chanterelles cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 - 4 cups hot chicken stock (or vegetable)
2 - 4 oz Verjus (or white wine)
1 oz  canola oil
Fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)

In a saucepan, saute the onion in the oil until translucent.  Add the rice and saute for a few minutes.  Add the stock, about 1/2 cup at a time and stir into the rice.  Keep the pot on low to medium so that it bubbles slightly.  Do not cover the pot.  When the stock is absorbed, add more stock.  After about 3 additions of stock, add the Verjus and the chanterelles. Continue to add the stock until the rice is cooked, but still a little firm in the centre of the grain.  It should still be a creamy texture.  Add more verjus if you wish and then the optional parmesan.  Salt the dish after the Parmesan addition.  Keep warm.

Scallops

2 large scallops per person (10/20 count)
1 good non stick pan
a smidge of canola oil

Heat the pan.  Dry the scallops with a paper towel.  Season with a little salt.  Place the scallops in the hot pan and cook for approximately 6-9 minutes on one side.  Flip over and cook for a few more minutes.  The scallops should still be slightly underdone in the middle. 

Plating

Place some sauce on the plate.  Add the rice, and then top with the scallops.  We added a few leaves of Italian Parsley from our garden, the restaurant had some micro greens, I think. 

Voila!  We were happy. The wine was excellent again.

Vince and Colleen

Cellar Door Bistro

Penticton.........The New Sin City?

Joy Road Catering's Exquisite Veggies

I asked my husband if he remembered the list of Venial Sins that good Catholic children learned at school. I’m sure that we had just committed a few of them this past weekend in Penticton and Naramata B.C. I looked up Venial Sin and came across this description "obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods" and a further description by Thomas Aquinas:


Praepropere - eating too soon.

Laute - eating too expensively

Nimis - eating too much.

Ardenter - eating too eagerly

Studiose - eating too daintily

Forente - eating wildly

Forgive me father..............

We have just returned from a 3 day bacchanalian weekend in the Okanagan. I was a participant at the Okanagan Food and Wine Writers Workshop. Jennifer Cockrall King, the event organizer, artfully planned workshops for budding and experienced food and wine writers, expertly presented by writers, editors and TV personalities Michele Sponagle, Julie Van Rosendaal, Taryn Boyd, and Craille Maguire Gillis. Top Cat Tours ushered us around the City of Penticton, the up and coming Naramata Bench, and Summerland. We had an amazing dinner at Township 7 Vineyard, with food prepared by Joy Road Catering, wines from Township 7 and a great new wine called Black Cloud. We watched the movie Tableland under the stars among the wine barrels. Another dinner at the historic Naramata Inn , prepared by Thomas Render and his talented team, was served outside on the balcony. We had a great vineyard tour and lunch at Lake Breeze Winery, and a foraged lunch at Valentine Farm, the makers of the Vinegar Works Wine Vinegar. We spent some time at the renowned Elephant Island Orchard Wines, and were sure to take home some of their bubbly Pink Elephant, and Framboise to share with friends.  Mission Hill Winery Chef Matthew Batey led us on a tour of the incredible Penticton Farmers Market.  Rhys Pender of Wine Plus+ primed our wine tasting chops, which we  practised behind the scenes at Laughingstock Winery in a wine blending workshop with David Enns. We were given 3 wines to blend and compare to their cult wine Portfolio. At Sumac Ridge Winery’s Cellar Door Bistro, some bottles of bubbly lost their heads in a wine sabering demonstration and we tasted their Tribute Olympic Commemorative sparkling wine. Some of that jumped into our car as well. The dinner was remarkable, prepared by Chef Roger Planiden, and was a fitting end to our weekend.

And now, I will do my penance.

My husband and I are going to re-create every meal that we ate, share the pictures of the real and pretend dishes, and write about them here. Stay tuned. (It might take a few weeks!)

Link to these great blogs for posts on the Township 7 Dinner and the Penticton Market