East Indian Split Pea Soup

A good split pea soup is one of winter's greatest pleasures.   My mom made it often when I was growing up and she still reigns as the Pea Soup (or Sea Poup, thanks Dad) Queen.  Hers used to be made with a meaty ham bone, but is now most often vegetarian, thick with sweet potato, celery, onions and carrot and spiced up with toasted cumin. At the Cafe, we've spiked our version with everything from pulled pork to maple sausage, always to good reviews.

Last week I was making shrimp curry for our buffet and wanted a soup to complement it.  Usually I make dhal, an East Indian dish often made with red lentils.  We had no lentils, but we did have lots of green split peas, and so this recipe was born.

East Indian Split Pea Soup

You can serve this soup as is, or have fun topping it: I suggest a dollop of plain yogurt, a spoonful of mango chutney, some chopped cilantro, a few toasted cashews...


1 lb. Split Peas (Mom says yellow, I say green)
12 C. Water
1 T. Oil
1 T. Mustard Seeds
1 large Onion, diced
1 T. freshly grated Ginger
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 t. Turmeric
2 t. ground Cumin
1 T. Salt
1 medium Sweet Potato, diced
1 large Potato, diced
2 large Carrots, diced
1 large handful Spinach, chopped (optional)
1 T. Garam Masala (a blend of sweet spices, EOS and Superstore have it)

In a large pot, bring the peas and water to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for about an hour, until the peas are mostly tender.  Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over medium high heat and pour in the oil.  Add the mustard seeds.  They will toast and begin popping after a minute or so.  Reduce the heat to medium, then stir in the onion and cook until beginning to soften, about five minutes.  Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric, cumin and salt, and cook for a minute before adding the sweet potato, potato, and carrot.  Cook, stirring often, for five minutes, then shut off the heat.  When the split peas are almost tender, add the spice and vegetable mix to the pot.  Simmer for a half hour (the peas should mostly have fallen apart at this point), then check for salt and stir in the spinach and garam masala.

Season of Bread and Bonfires

 We live on the fringe of the woods, a mile's walk from the Bay of Fundy on the North Mountain.  Christmas here means a big family trip to the woods to choose a sparse-but-beautiful tree.  We're not going to miss the opportunity to build a big roaring fire to sit around.  And if you give an Osburn a fire to sit around, she's going to want a snack.  Or a full-on meal. 

For this occasion, my Mom was bringing baked beans.  I wanted to bake brown bread, but with only an hour before the slated trip, that was impossible.

I flipped through a few cookbooks and adapted a beer bread recipe to suit.  It's a quick bread, so it only takes about 50 minutes from start to finish.  I added molasses and used a bottle of St-Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale. It baked up to be a very respectable stand in, with the added bonus of fruity, yeasty ale-iciousness.  In this season of soups and stews, a loaf of this will fit in very nicely at your next gathering or potluck.

Locally, I think this bread would be equally wonderful made with Propeller's Honey Wheat or Pale Ale, or anything you like (maybe not stout, but you never know!)  One more note: the bread disappeared before I could take a picture. Had it lasted, I would have eaten it toasted the next day with a big piece of cheese.  It will keep for a few days if given the chance.

Hoppy New Year!!


Molasses and Ale Bread

1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 C. All Purpose Flour
1/2 C. Oatmeal
2 T. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
3 T. Brown Sugar
1/3 C. Molasses
1 341 ml. bottle Beer

Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter a loaf pan.  In a  large bowl, whisk the flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar and salt.  Add the molasses and beer and stir until just combined.  Scrape into the loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.  Cool on a rack or wrap in a towel on your way out the door!

Simple Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

Lately all I've been wanting to eat is cake.  I daydream about cupcakes piled high with frosting, layers of chocolate and cream, caramel sauce, raspberries. lemon curd.  I've been firing up my oven at bedtime to make a quick batch of brownies and almost bought a box of crunch donuts from the grocery store last week.  I am pregnant.

Since I've been rather absent here for the last few weeks, it should come as no surprise that I really haven't been doing much cooking.  Nothing I really want to share with you, or even admit to.  But now I'm feeling better and more energetic every day, and I've even started stocking my fridge with vegetables again! 

Pregnant or not, most of us could stand to eat a little healthier.  I'm not saying that the following recipe is actually good for you, but it certainly is better for you than some of the alternatives.  The pumpkin makes the cake very moist and rich-tasting, despite the fact that there is less fat and sugar in there than in other cakes.  The glaze adds a sugary, buttery flavour without being piled half an inch thick.  The recipe makes enough batter for 1 cake and a dozen muffins to freeze and dole out in lunchbags.

If you're energetic, try roasting your own pumpkin or buttercup squash, it will make the very best cake.  You will note that this recipe uses a whole large can of pure pumpkin, rather than leaving you with leftovers. 


Simple Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Glaze
makes 1 cake and 12 muffins

2 C. Sugar (I use Just Us!)
1 C. Canola Oil
6 Eggs
1 T. Vanilla
3 C. cooked and mashed Pumpkin  (or 1 large can)
4 C. Flour (try 2 C. white and 2 C. whole wheat)

4 t. Baking Soda
2 t. Baking Powder
2 t. Cinnamon
1 t. Ginger
1/4 t. Cloves
1/2 t. Salt

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Butter a bundt or other large cake pan, and a 12 cup muffin tin (or use paper liners).  In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla.  Add the pumpkin and whisk to combine well.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, and whisk just until combined.  Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full, then scrape the remaining batter into the cake pan.  Bake the muffins for 15-18 minutes and the cake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes clean.  Let cool on a rack in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan.  Make the glaze, then drizzle it over the cake and muffins.

for the Brown Butter Glaze

2 T. Butter
1/4 C. Brown Sugar
1/4 C. Milk
1 1/2 C. Icing Sugar

Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat.  Watch as it melts, bubbles, and begins to brown.  Whisk in the brown sugar, cook another 30 seconds, than remove from the heat and beat in the milk and icing sugar.

Curried Quinoa and Fruit Salad

My restaurant, the Union Street Cafe, offers a popular daily Lunch Buffet.  We serve a delicious hot entree like Chicken and Roasted Vegetable Lasagna or Handmade Pizza , a Made-From-Scratch Soup and a lineup of at least five Salads.  On the weekends, we switch to brunch offerings including Fishcakes, Walnut Crusted French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Baked Beans and make sure there is fruit in the salad line-up. 

Over the years, we've gotten many recipe requests for customer favourites!  My policy on recipe sharing is simple: if I've got the recipe, I'll share it.  The problem is, many of these salads are inspired by what's in the kitchen that day and aren't written down.  Some glorious inventions have been made once, devoured, and never recorded. We're working hard to change that by keeping a book of notes right next to the salad bowls.  If something works, I take quick notes on what went into it so it can be re-created.

This is the most recently requested recipe, and it is supremely tasty.  It's also my sister Meagan's favourite buffet salad!  The curry powder is cooked right along with the super-healthy quinoa (an infyooosion, as kitchen gals Annette and Alexis call it) and then mixed with other lovely things like pineapple and dried cranberries.  It is a lovely home for local fruit in season and can likely survive any adaptation you can throw at it.  You can bring it to a potluck, serve it as a side dish, or make it into a lovely wrap with chicken and greens tucked inside, like Meagan would do.

Curried Quinoa and Fruit Salad

If you haven't cooked with quinoa before, this is a great way to start!

1 C. Quinoa
2 C. Water
1 T. Curry Powder
1 t. Salt
1 stalk Celery, diced
1/4 C. minced Red Onion
1/2 C. minced Red Pepper
1 C. Seedless Grapes, cut in half (if you have all day)
1 C. fresh Pineapple, diced or 1 C. diced Apple
1/4 C. dried Cranberries
1/4 C. Almonds
2 T. Honey
1/3 C. Canola Oil or Mayo
2 T. Lemon Juice

Combine the quinoa, water, curry powder and salt in a small heavy pot.  Bring to a boil, covered, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook another twenty minutes.  Turn off the heat and let stand while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  In a large bowl, combine  the celery, red onion, red pepper, grapes, pineapple, cranberries and almonds.  In a small bowl, whisk the honey, oil or mayo, and lemon juice until smooth.  When the quinoa has cooled (you can spread it out on a tray to hurry it along if you like), crumble it into the bowl and add the dressing.  Toss gently to combine, taste, adding a little more lemon or honey if you like, then serve.

Autumn Pizza

 This time last year: Kid Friendly Meals

Every Thursday morning at the Cafe I bake batches of Focaccia Bread.  It's a soft, wet dough that bakes into a spongy, chewy bread full of holes and fragrant with olive oil and rosemary.  We cut it into large squares and stuff them with chicken and roasted vegetables, or split them and layer the halves with ham, apples and cheddar.  They also stand in nicely when we run out of hamburger buns, an inevitability on busy weekends.  More often than not we mix up an extra batch of dough for pizzas.  We let our imaginations run wild, usually inspired by a quart of just-picked strawberries, a bagful of fresh herbs, or a bowl brimming with colourful heirloom tomatoes.  We're incredibly lucky.  Many of Union Street Cafe's present and past staff are gardeners.  And all the gardeners I know, especially my Dad, grow way too much for their own use.  So in through the kitchen door it comes, in bags and baskets and boxes: truly seasonal inspiration. And always gratefully received.


Roasted Squash and Sausage Pizza with Greens
Here is last week's creation!  Feel free to sub in pita or pre-made crust if you don't want to bother making your own.  Just bake until the cheese is beginning to brown.

1 small Butternut Squash, peeled and cut in small dice
2 T. Olive Oil
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 recipe Focaccia Bread (make the dough and let rise)
generous 1/2 C. Alfredo Sauce, optional
1 bunch Rainbow Swiss Chard, chopped and steamed until tender, or 1 recipe Greens with Caramelized Onions
1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage, cooked and sliced thinly (try Meadowbrook's in the Valley)
2 C. shredded Mozzarella
2 T. freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Toss the squash with the olive oil and salt and spread onto a baking sheet.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, until squash is tender and beginning to brown.  Leave the oven on.  Prepare the focaccia dough and gently press into a generously oiled 13x18" pan.  I find this easiest to do in two or three stages, as the dough resists stretching and needs time to rest in between efforts.  Spread the dough with the the Alfredo sauce.  Top with the squash, the chard, and sausage.  Sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Bake for 15-25 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown.

Slippery Jacks

This time last year: Autumn Soups 

                                      

Here it is, my first-ever guest post writer: my Mom.  I've told you a bit about her, how she shaped my love of food and cooking, and what an inspiration she is in the kitchen.  She's not afraid to make bagels from scratch, or complicated Mexican desserts, or a pickle that takes four days of attention.

It’s pickling season and if you have your own garden you’re probably trying to think of ways to preserve or use up the giant cucumbers that appear to grow to gargantuan size overnight. Recipes so often call for more normal dimensions and you can’t give them away either because everyone’s in the same boat…. or pickle. Well here’s a really weird cucumber pickle recipe that will use up about a dozen of those bloated gourds. There’s probably not a speck of nutrition left in them but pickles aren’t about that anyway and these are really good with your favourite curry dish, with cheese and crackers or just for when you want a pickle. This recipe comes from Riverport on the South Shore of Nova Scotia and though the method may sound as if they would end up otherwise, they really are sweet, crisp and tender! 

Slippery Jacks

Wash 10 cucumbers, ripe and as large as they grow and cover with boiling water. Next day, drain and cover again with boiling water. Repeat this step on the third day. Next day peel, remove seeds and cut into strips. In a large pot, bring to a boil:

• 6 cups white sugar
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice or prepare your own using bay leaves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, mustard seed and whole cloves. Bundle them up in cheesecloth tied with a string and hang them in the syrup.
• 5 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups white vinegar

Boil syrup for two minutes, remove from heat and add cucumber strips. Let sit for two days, then bring just to a boil without cooking. Put in sterilized jars and seal. 

It's me again.  I just wanted to thank my Anna Osburn (that's my Mom)  for taking all the pictures and creating today's post!  The song in the video clip is from my Don Osburn's (that's my Dad) album Small Fine Pleasures and it features Dan Whiteley on mandolin.  That's also Dan Whiteley as our Slippery Jack spokesman and we think he did a fine job selling you on this unusual and delicious pickle.  My Mom would also like to thank my aunt Jane for giving her the recipe in the first place.

Heirloom Tomato Pasta

 This time last year: Grilled Summer Vegetables

Sometimes the simplest things are the best.  You could stand all day at the stove, stirring a simmering pot of tomato sauce.  Or you could whip this up in the time it takes to boil the water for your pasta.  Of course, you need some really flavourful tomatoes. You can find some great old-fashioned tomato varieties at most nurseries if you're up for growing your own, or you can buy a mix of tomatoes at a farm market (or even at the grocery store).  This is a great use for ugly or less-than-perfect tomatoes since you chop them all up anyway.  The inspiration for this recipe comes from pasta genius Ross Patterson, aka The Noodle Guy.  Ross worked as a waiter in the early days of Union Street Cafe but he couldn't keep his nose out of the kitchen and we just loved him for it.  If I remember correctly, his version included a touch of anchovy. 

What makes this particular sauce so unusually delicious is that the tomatoes are essentially raw.  Barely cooked by the heat of the pasta, their sensual flavours bloom.  When I made this for myself last week, I added some fresh herbs that I collected by flashlight from my ridiculously overgrown garden and left out the anchovies because I didn't have any.  Locally grown, quality garlic will certainly make this all the better.

Heirloom Tomato Pasta for 2

1 lb. mixed ripe Tomatoes, cut in 1" pieces (halve any cherry tomatoes)
2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 t. Salt
1 juicy clove minced Garlic
2 T. slivered Red Onion
2 T. chopped fresh Basil
2 T. chopped fresh Parsley
1/2 of a 375 g. box Whole Wheat Spaghetti or Spaghettini
Freshly ground Pepper and Parmesan Cheese, for serving

Combine the tomatoes, oil, salt, garlic, onion and herbs in a bowl.  Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta.  Cook until just tender, then drain.  Put the tomato mixture into the still-warm pot, then add the hot pasta.  Return to the turned off burner for a moment before tossing the whole glorious mess together.  Divide between bowls, adding generous grinds of pepper and Parmesan cheese to each serving.