Category Archives: Recipes

Bread, Recipes

Walla Walla Onion and Basil Foccacia

Foccacia bread is one thing that I make very frequently, as it is an easy, satisfying compliment to just about anything. (Leftover, it makes fabulous croutons, diced, tossed in olive oil and baked until golden brown). Allow 2 1/2 hours for preparation, rising, and baking. I use instant yeast for most things at home, as you just add it to the dry ingredients rather than having to activate it first. If you want to use active dry yeast instead, you will have to add the sugar and the yeast to the warm water, rather than the dry ingredients in the recipe. Amounts are the same. For the most accurate baking results, weigh the dry ingredients, as flour density does vary, and too much flour will result in a heavy dough.

550 ml very warm (hot to the touch) water (2 1/4 cups)
60 ml olive oil (1/4 cup)
1kg flour (6 1/2 cups)
20 g salt (4 tsp)
45 g sugar (3 tbsp)
25 g instant yeast ( 3 tbsp)

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp cornmeal or semolina

1 medium Walla Walla onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1 tbsp coarse salt

Combine water and olive oil in a mixing bowl and set aside
In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast
Add dry ingredients to wet, and knead in an electric mixer with the dough hook for 10 minutes , until smooth and elastic to the touch. (alternatively, you can prepare the dough in a bread maker using the dough setting, or by hand if you’re feeling particularly vigorous)
Coat dough ball with 1 tbsp vegetable oil and place into a large bowl, cover, and put into a warm place to rise. (45 minutes-1 hour, depending on the temperature)
Once dough has risen to double its original size, punch it down, re-cover and allow to rise a second time. (30 minutes or so)
Transfer dough to a lightly floured board and roll out into a rectangle 12 by 16 inches ,or the same size as a baking sheet.
Spray a baking sheet lightly with nonstick spray and scatter with cornmeal or semolina (this gives it a nice crust and prevents sticking)
Cover and allow to rise for an additional 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 F

While dough is rising, slice onion very thinly and sauté in olive oil until golden.
Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
Chop basil and set aside.
Once the dough has finished its pan rise, spread the onions all over the top, scatter with basil and coarse salt, and bake for 30 minutes in a 350 F oven, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the top

Remove from oven and allow to sit for 20 minutes before serving.
Slice into large squares and serve.

Entree, Meat, Recipes

Rack of Pork with Raspberry Hazelnut Glaze and Plum Apple Sauce

When preparing a marinade for pork I always try and strike a balance between sweet, sour, salt and spice, as all are complimentary to the flavour. My preferred method for marinating is to put the meat in a large resealable plastic bag, combine the marinade ingredients, add them to the bag, zip it shut, removing all of the air so that the marinade gets all around the meat, rubbing it well, and then placing the bag in the fridge for a couple of hours. I have found that this way, you need only a small amount of marinade to cover the meat, and it penetrates the flavour in further.

1 rack of pork (4- 5 lb)

1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1/4 cup hazelnut oil
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp agave syrup (or honey)
1/2 tsp Old Bay spice (or pinch cayenne)

coarse salt
steak spice

Place pork in a large resealable bag. Combine vinegar, oil, mustard, syrup (or honey), and bay spice (or cayenne), and add to bag. Zip shut, removing as much air as possible , and place in refrigerator for 2-6 hours to marinate. Remove from bag, reserving marinade, and transfer to a sheet pan. Season well with salt and steak spice (you can use your favourite blend, or make our own, recipe follows)

Place pork, bones down, on a preheated barbecue over medium indirect heat and cook, cover down for 1 1/2 hours, basting every 15 minutes, until it registers 140 F on a meat thermometer.
Remove from heat, allow to rest in a warm spot for 20 minutes, and carve into individual chops.

Steak Spice

This will make a nice sized jar, mix well, grind as needed and use to season meats and poultry.

3 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp green or pink peppercorns (dry)
1 tbsp Szechuan pepper
1 tbsp fennel seed
1 tbsp dill seed
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp yellow mustard seed
1 tbsp brown mustard seed
1 1/2 tsp chili flakes

Recipes, Sauce

Plum and Apple Sauce

12 plums, pitted and halved
4 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
pinch cinnamon
pinch cloves

Combine all ingredients in a medium pot, bring to a simmer, and cover.

Reduce heat to low and cook for 1 hour, until very soft.

Puree and strain.

Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until needed

Dessert, Recipes

Peach and Almond Crumble

Fruit crumbles, crisps, cobblers, and the like are the staple of easy summer desserts. I like to add almonds to my crumble topping, especially with peaches and apricots, but you may use rolled oats instead if you prefer, or are preparing the dish for someone with a nut allergy.

Topping

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 cup sliced almonds

Filling

2 lb peaches
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup cornstarch

Combine butter, sugar, flour, and almonds and mix with fingers until well combined, but crumbly still.
Blanch peaches in a large pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, plunge into cold water, and remove skins.
Halve peaches, remove stones, and dice into 1/2 inch pieces
Toss with brown sugar, spices, and cornstarch, and place into a 2 quart round or square casserole dish.
Sprinkle topping evenly over the fruit, and bake for 45 minutes, until browned, bubbling slightly, and fruit is tender.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving with ice cream or whipped cream

Appetizer, Cooking, Dessert, Entree, Food, Menus, Poultry, Recipes, Side dish, Vegetable, Writing

The Striped German

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The first of my Sunday Dinner series…

Last night, Milan Djordjevich from Stoney Paradise brought me a gift. Not just any gift to mark my new direction in life, but the tomato to end all tomatoes. Twelve years we have known each other, and there have been many fine specimens to grace my kitchen, but none quite as impressive as this. I opened the paper bag to see what was inside, and there was THE tomato, a 2 1/2 lb Striped German. It sat on the counter for the remainder of service while I contemplated its fate, knowing we were having friends over for dinner tonight, and wanted to see how that one tomato could inspire a meal.

the tomato in question

I woke this morning to see it proudly perched on my kitchen counter at home, and decided that I would hollow it out and use it as a vessel to serve an appetizer, reserving the flesh for something, perhaps the filling. A trip to the market in the morning provided a few complimentary items; peppers, sweet onion, and basil. I had picked up a few chickens in the hope of barbecuing, and figured we had a good start. Once home again, I noticed quite a few windfallen apples on the ground from one of our two trees, and went out to gather them. Not quite perfect, but great for applesauce or something along those lines. The tomato plants provided a few cocktail sized red tomatoes suitable for roasting along with the peppers and onion to add to the filling, and by now, the menu was starting to take shape.

Roasted vegetable relish (served in the Striped German, with fresh baguette)

Roast chicken of some description ( I had given up on the barbecue as it looked pretty gloomy outside)

Something with apples, still under consideration

Half a dozen cocktail tomatoes, halved, one sliced sweet onion, and two peppers, seeded and quartered made their way onto a sheet pan and into the oven with a splash of olive oil and salt. An hour or so at 300 degrees, I figured, and started carving the tomato. The flesh was soft and sweet, so I chopped it lightly, salted it, and placed it in a bowl with a couple of tablespoons of chopped basil.

I let it sit while I split the chickens and removed the thigh bones, and put them into a large pyrex pan to marinate. A couple of tablespoons each of honey and grainy mustard whisked together with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and a quarter cup olive oil provided a good rub down, topped with a few sprigs from the garden: rosemary, oregano flowers, and thyme, followed by a healthy pinch of coarse salt and about teaspoon of chili powder. Birds comfortably in the fridge, I returned to the tomato flesh, decided to puree it and go from there. The resulting liquid was magic, and it seemed a shame to toss it in with the roasted veg, fresh out of the oven. Maybe just a shooter of cold tomato soup? By the time it was strained, there was only about 10 ounces, not quite enough for the eight of us, so I decided to make some gnocchi, and toss them in the golden elixir.

Back to the roasted vegetables, now cooled to room temperature: a brief chop, a splash of balsamic, a healthy dose of chopped basil, a pinch of salt, and into the shell of the German. Potatoes on, things really were shaping up. The windfallen apples were peeled, into a pot with some brown sugar and cinnamon they went, just a splash of water to keep them from sticking, and onto a low simmer. I figured a bit of fun would be nice for dessert, so settled on making some sweet cinnamon waffles, topping them with the applesauce, vanilla ice cream, and caramel. Popped the waffle batter together quickly and put it in the fridge, brought out the birds to be transferred to a sheet pan to go in the convection oven for an hour or so, and took the potatoes off the stove, strained them and allowed them to cool and dry out for a bit.

stuffed and ready to go

By this time, our guests were arriving, so I sliced the bread to go with the tomato relish, and sat down for a drink and a visit. Only the gnocchi to make yet, so we were in good shape. Once cooled to room temperature, I riced and weighed the potato, gather the prescribed amount of flour (1/3 the weight of the potato), a couple of eggs, and put the dough together while I waited for the water to boil. There was still a couple of tablespoons of chopped basil there, so I tossed it in, and rolled, cut, and shaped the gnocchi, laying them out on a sheet pan. By this time, the water was boiling, so in they went in batches (so as not to crowd the pot), and once they floated to the top they were cooled in cold water, strained, tossed in a touch of oil, and set aside.

The chicken was looking pretty good by this point, so I pulled it from the oven to rest, cleaned some yellow beans, and went back to our guests. the tomato shell was all that remained, and it looked quite juicy once all the roasted vegetable relish had been spooned out of it. As I carried the platter back to the kitchen, it seemed a shame not to make good use of the rest of the German, so I diced it up and threw it into the food processor, and strained the resulting liquid to add to the previous batch from the flesh of the fruit.

Beans went into the steamer, and two large saute pans were brought out for the gnocchi. Once heated to medium-high, I baptized them with a splash of olive oil, and divided the gnocchi among the two. Just a nice browning, then I tossed in the golden tomato puree and just cooked it enough to heat through. Dinner was served!

Following a respectful break for digestion, it was time to move forward on dessert. The waffle iron was heated, plates were laid out and the waffles cooked and quartered. A generous helping of the not too sweet applesauce on the hot waffle, a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, and a fair drizzle of caramel sauce over everything put the finishing touches on a great Sunday dinner, the last before school starts and the first in my new-found existence. The kids went back for seconds, thirds even, polishing off the rest of the waffles and applesauce.

What a way to end the summer with good food and good friends, and to think it all started with one tomato, but what a tomato it was! I can’t wait for next week, I’m starting to get hungry again. Actually, there may still be some gnocchi left in the fridge…..