Fall and Gardens and Orange Questions

One of the best and worst things about living above the 49th (the border between most of Canada and the US) is that we experience 4 very different seasons every year.  (The worst part is the months of very cold, slippery winter.)

I’ve decided that early fall is really my favorite time of year.  It’s cool in the morning - but in a really great crisp way, not the bone-chill of the winter.  And it doesn’t get too hot during the day, making for less than pleasant working conditions.  And it’s beautiful outside.  The trees, still full of leaves, start to change colours.  Vivid oranges, purples and pinks mingle with shades of green and gray. (The picture of trees was taken out the back door of my store.  It’s in the middle of the city but you wouldn’t know by looking at it.)

There is one aspect of fall that I’m not thrilled about.  The garden boxes needed to be cleaned out.  We’ve had several nights in the last few weeks when the temperature dropped below 0 degrees celsius.  Not good for the mint and chives.  The strawberries and tomatoes all looked tired and sad, so out they came.  At least the boxes are ready for next year.  But it’s at least 10 months until I’ll be able to taste a home-grown tomato again.

But don’t worry – I still have something to get me through the winter months.  A miniature orange tree that grows in my kitchen.  It really seems to love the window it sits next to and is thriving.  There are almost 2 dozen oranges growing right now.  There is one little problem.  Have you ever tasted one of these miniature oranges??  Not exactly sweet.  In fact I find them to be more tart than most lemons.  So the question is whether or not there’s something I can do with these.  Do people cook with them?  I think they’d be great in a marinade (for fish?) or maybe as a vinaigrette.   Does anybody have any ideas for these little suckers?

Food and Planes Update…

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has updated the restrictions allowed on planes.  Liquids, gels and aerosols are now allowed under certain conditions.  More information can be found here.

Thought for the day..

I hate when you get to the bottom of a large bag of jellybeans and pull out a handful only to find that over half of the ones in your hand are cinnamon, licorice and popcorn – none of which you enjoy.  The options are to try to find somebody else to eat them (does anybody really like popcorn flavoured jelly beans?) or throw them out.  Such  a waste.

New Years / Rosh Hashana 5767

Another year has started – and the holiday is over.   I can’t believe how much food was served and consumed over the weekend.  If we didn’t have a fast scheduled for later in the week, I think I would have started one anyway!

Every year for Rosh Hashana, at least once, my breakfast consists of an apple (Gala this year – crisp, very good) dipped in honey.  This year I was given a couple of jars of flavoured honey, so breakfast was apples with creamed honey, raspberry honey and chocolate honey.  All good.

The first night we went to my Aunt’s for dinner. I’m very particular about eating out (in other homes) – but her cooking is great and I always enjoy it.  She had only a little food – barely enough for 30 people.  It’s a shame there were only 11 adults and 2 small children! An exceptional chicken soup was followed by brisket, chicken, knishes, kasha, cabbage rolls and two different vegetables.  Dessert was honey cake, as assortment of cookies and fresh fruit.

Now, we’ve never been a family that does lunches at the holidays.  It’s always been large dinners with small lunches at home.  This year was a mix – and the first day saw us at the home of family friends.  Though they are not at all conected to the hosts from the night before, for lunch we were offered chicken soup, gefilte fish, brisket, chicken, kasha, sweet potatoes, salad, potato roll in phyllo and honey cake, cookies and fruit for dessert!  I’m wondering how many others had brisket and chicken….  I’d bet lots.

So the plan for the second night was to bejust the immediate family at home and we were going to lamb shoulder roast.  But we were all so full from lunch that we decided to wait until last night for the roast.  Saturday night was just nibbling on odds and ends.  On Sunday (day #2) we went for lunch to another aunts.  This time it was dairy and our contribution included

salmon, cod, cheese kugel, mushroom and onion quiche and party sandwiches (double decker).  The hosts provided minestrone, spanikopita, a sweet potato dish, salad, honey cake, cookies and fruit.  You’d think we’d never eaten before!

So, even though we were plenty full, I had these two lamb shoulders thawed and marinated – so I ploughed on.

First – the lamb marinated in a mix of lemon juice, lots of garlic, olive oil, salt, black pepper and fresh thyme.  I was going to use rosemary but the cashier at the grocery store needed a price check on it and I was in a hurry – so instead I used the thyme that I already had.  I left it alone for about 6 hours – it could have gone all night, but I wasn’t on top of things.  Then before I left for lunch, I covered the pan with foil and into a warm oven – set at 279 degrees (I would have set it at 275, but I think my oven is running a little low and I couldn’t commit to 280).  Last time I cooked a lamb shoulder, I remember it cooked for a loooong time and was good, but not fantastic.  This time I figured I’d cook it long and slow – not really sure how long it would take.  Well, when I came home from lunch, after 3 hours I checked on it, expecting it not to be done.  The lamb was still pink all the way through but very tender.  So I pulled it from the oven and parked it for a while.  There was a lot of juice (a couple of cups) so I poured it off and inter the fridge in an attempt to separate the fat from the juice so that I could make some gravy to go with it.

In the meantime, as the lamb rested I had potatoes boiling for mash and cauliflower in the oven roasting (tossed with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh garlic).  I spooned off as much as the fat as possible from the juice and made a quick roux (margarine and flour), added the juice and brought it to a boil.  Gravy.  Now, the gravy was very good – but next time I’d leave the lemon juice out of the marinade because the tangy gravy was a little odd on the mashed potatoes.  The plate was a little monochromatic – it could have used a sweet potato, carrot or green bean – but you know what?  it was a great meal.  I’m glad I went ahead with it.

 Last, but certainly not least was an apple-honey cake.  I’ve been working on my honey-cake recipes for the last year or so.  This one was moist, with little nuggets of apple (Gala again – I’m really liking the Galas) throughout. 

What a lot of food.  People will be eating leftovers for days (I did for lunch today!).  But tradition is tradition – and a two-day holiday cannot go by without some brisket, chicken, kugel, kasha, soup and dessert.

I hope you had a lovely holiday.  Shana Tova u’Metukah!

Party like it’s .. 5767

Shana Tova or Happy New Year to those of you celebrating Rosh Hashana. 

It’s been a busy couple of days around here – lots and lots of food.  I’ll post more about it later.  For now, I just want to wish everybody a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.  Shana Tova!

Grilled Cheese Goodness

I tend to avoid bread and wheat products.  There are a few reasons but the biggest issue is that I feel much better when I don’t eat bread (slight gluten-intolerance). But every once in a while I get an intense craving – like I did this weekend.  I decided that the best way to satisfy my craving was with a grilled cheese sandwich.  While we’re add it I figured I’d toss in some of those Old Dutch Ripple potato chips (of the Ketchup chip fame) and Strub’s full-sour baby pickles.  Tasty stuff.

The thing about eating something that you rarely eat is that when you do eat it, you really really want it to be good.  I’m not talking about processed cheese sandwiched between two pieces of spongy white generic bread.

First you need good bread – whatever you like.  Sourdough, french, country – anything that’s good. You’ll need two pieces.  

Then butter.  It’s best if the butter has had a chance to come to room temperature and has softened slightly.  Necessary for even spreading.  Lightly spread the butter on to one side of each piece of bread.  Turn them over so that the buttered side is on a plate or cutting board.

Then the cheese.  Again - your choice.  A good cheddar is hard to beat.  But Gouda, Swiss, Brie – anything you like will do.  A thin layer needs to be arranged evenly on each piece of bread.

Cooking.  I like to use a non-stick pan for this.  Over low heat, the bread slices go into the frying pan, butter-side-down and cheese-side-up.  Then the important part – place a lid or aluminum foil over the pan so that the heat stays in.  This will enable the cheese to melt.  So we’ll end up with two pieces of bread, toasted on one side, gooey melted cheese on the other.

Watch the pan.  The bread will go from golden brown goodness to black scorched nastiness quickly. 

Once toasted and gooey, I transfer the bread to a plate and place a few slices of perfectly ripe tomato (better if home grown) and some sliced green onions (scallions) onto one side.  Top with the other piece so that the cool, crisp vegetable is sandwiched between the warm, soft cheese.

Enjoy!

(Of course, you can leave the tomato and onion out completely.  A great combination is brie with apple or pear slices and slivers of red onion.  Be creative – just use great ingredients!)

Croc Roundup

As I often do, I was scrolling through the posts on foodieblogs.net and I came across a post from TVFoodFan.com titled The Batali Clog Backlash.  For those of you not in the know, Mario Batali is known not only for his food, restaurants and cooking show – but also for his orange clogs.

Crocs are a rather ugly, yet really comfortable shoe favored by many in professions that require standing for long periods (nursing, cooks, etc.).  Batali is probably one of  the Crocs most vocal fans.

These days you can see the colorful shoes on people from all walks of life – from babies to seniors.  But they are ugly.  (Have I mentioned that yet?) There is even a site called I hate Crocs.com. They’ve started a campaign to get people to just say no to Crocs.  I wonder if they’ve ever worn them…

I will admit that I am a proud Croc wearer.  I find it funny that these shoes bring out the hate in so many.  Well, they are ugly.  But comfy.  Don’t be a hater.  Try them on – just wearing them for a few minutes will make you love them.   Really.  You may even forget how ugly they are – well, maybe not.