"Jenny's cookbook is full of heart and soul" Chef Michael Smith

Monday, June 27, 2011

Sweet and Spicy Shrimp with Asparagus and Snow Peas

This time last year: Summer Solstice Soup of Greens and White Beans


My garden is coming along nicely!  I've picked lots of asparagus and spinach, eaten plenty of tender baby green salads and (yes) one ripe strawberry.  Bunches of  self-seeded parsley, cilantro, mint and green garlic have leapt up in random places, too.  I had the kind of lazy Sunday that only happens a few times a year yesterday, and it was just Sean and I for supper.  I had spent the day reading cookbooks and found a recipe for Sweet and Spicy Shrimp, an appetizer from Julie Van Rosendaal's Grazing cookbook (buy this book!  It's chock-full of amazing flavours).  I was hoping I could turn it into a main course using up some of the stuff in my garden, plus some glorious green onions and snow peas I picked up at the Berwick Farmer's Market.  It worked beautifully.  Here are the delicious and easy results:

Sweet and Spicy Shrimp with Asparagus and Snow Peas

1/4 C. Sugar
2 T. Water
2 T. Fish Sauce
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/2 lb. Tiger Shrimp
2 t. Oil
1/2 medium Onion,  sliced
1/2 lb. Asparagus, cut in 1" lengths
1 C. Snow Peas, tops removed
3 Green Onions, white parts cut in 1" lengths, green parts thinly sliced
8 C. Baby Greens or Mesclun
2 T. chopped Cilantro
2 T. chopped Mint (optional, but yummy)

Combine the sugar, water and fish sauce in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and add the garlic and the shrimp.  Cook, stirring near constantly, until shrimp are pink.  Remove from the heat and drain, reserving the sauce.  In a large pan, heat the oil over medium high heat and add the onion.  Cook and stir a minute, then add the asparagus, snow peas, and white parts of the green onions.  Stir-fry until asparagus is just this side of tender, then turn off the heat and add half the reserved sauce to the pan.  Place the greens in a large bowl and toss with the remaining sauce.  Divide the greens between two plates, then top with the stir-fry.  Arrange the shrimp on top, then sprinkle with the sliced green onions, the cilantro and the mint.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Strawberry Rhubarb Shortpancakes


 Here's a quick idea for you: instead of time-consuming, heat-up-the-whole-kitchen biscuit baking, thrill your family with strawberry shortpancakes for breakfast! Just make up your favourite pancakes and top with lightly sweetened strawberries and whipped cream.  Or, if you still have rhubarb, make this simple and delicious strawberry-rhubarb sauce!

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

1/2 C. water
1/4 C. Sugar
1 C. chopped Rhubarb
2 C. Strawberries, quartered



 Heat water and sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat until mixture boils.  Add rhubarb and cook for 2-3 minutes, until tender.  Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberries. 

I wish I had a picture, but we celebrated my cousin Melyssa's birthday with Strawberry-Rhubarb Sangria.  Just pour 1/4 cup of the strawberry rhubarb sauce over ice in a wine glass and carefully add equal parts club soda and Prosecco (or any sparkling wine) to fill.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Itty Bitter Broccoli

Broccoli Raab is a delicious leafy and slightly bitter version of broccoli.  It has tiny florets on top of thick stems and is sold in bunches.  I've been growing it in my garden for the last few years and it's really easy: the seeds can be planted directly in the early spring, and when the plants get about 8 inches tall you can start harvesting the tops (the plant will continue to grow).  Like many of the greens I used to hate as a kid, they are addictive when braised with garlic and olive oil, and especially mouthwatering paired up with sausage and cheese.  The blanching step here greatly reduces the bitterness of the raab.  If you can't find it, substitute kale or Swiss chard or even spinach (no need to blanch chard or spinach first).
Incidentally, did you know that your tolerance (and hankering) for Bitter increases as you get older?  Little kids are generally very sensitive to acrid tastes, but less sensitive than the grown-ups to sour.  That's why they like to suck on lemons, and also why they will not like this.  Our kids just had the sausage on bread with ketchup and mustard.

Broccoli Raab and Sweet Italian Sausage Sandwiches

1 Baguette, cut into 4 pieces
1 bunch Broccoli Raab
1 T. Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage, cooked and sliced
1 C. Shredded Mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400.  Slice each baguette chunk in half horizontally and place on a baking sheet.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 T. salt.  Add the broccoli raab and cook for two minutes, until the stems are just tender.  Remove and drain in a colander, then rinse with cold water.  Chop into bite sized pieces.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in  a large pan over medium high heat and saute the onion.  After a few minutes, when the onions have softened but are not browned, add the garlic and the chopped raab.  Stir and cook a minute, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from the heat.  Layer greens, sausage and mozzarella on the baguette halves.  Bake for about ten minutes, until the cheese has melted and is beginning to brown.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Ravishing Rhubarb and Raspberry Pudding Cake

Where oh Where Are You??
I whined last time about the lack of strawberries around these parts.  Truth is, I have had this year's first strawberry shortcake and even made a batch of Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps to pair with strawberries and Dragon's Breath Blue Cheese for a special wedding last weekend (oh my god).  However, today was my day off, and I really wanted to bake up a strawberry-rhubarb something (I thought about it all through my morning yoga class) and there was NOT A LOCAL STRAWBERRY TO BE FOUND.  Granted, it was rainy, miserable berry-harvesting weather.  And I certainly wasn't going to go and do anything drastic like pick my own or anything.  So I hauled out a bag of frozen raspberries, sliced up some lovely pink rhubarb, and tweaked a recipe I found in a Canadian Living cookbook (which, good news,  I won this week having stuffed Molly's Brownie fundraiser ballot box with tickets I was forced to purchase because let's face it I suck at fundraising and it's June and I've given up my thin veneer of being a perfectly organized mother and am even sending my kids to school with *gasp* pre-packaged snacks this week and they're lucky they have clean socks to wear even if they don't match).

Although this was not what I had in mind as I down-dogged and tree-posed, I was more than happy with how it turned out.  Raspberries and rhubarb are a wonderful pair (am I the last to find out?),  so much so that I am now planning to freeze some rhubarb for raspberry season!

I don't know about you, but to me there is no sweeter word pairing than "pudding" and "cake".  Unless it's "summer" and "vacation".  Or "strawberry" and "rhubarb".  But that will have to wait.

Raspberry Rhubarb Pudding Cake
(adapted from Canadian Living Everyday Favourites)

Let's talk about flour for a moment, because this originally called for all-purpose and you know me, I can't help but try to sneak in at least some whole wheat.  But whole wheat flours vary widely in texture and this can have some serious repercussions on the lightness of baked goods.  So I recommend a whole wheat flour that has had some of the bran removed, like Speerville Whole White or President's Choice Organic Whole Wheat Flour.

4 C. Frozen Raspberries, thawed (a 600g package will do nicely)
2 C. Thinly Sliced Rhubarb
1/3 C. Sugar plus 1/4 C. Sugar


Cake Part:
1/2 C. Butter, softened
3/4 C. Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 t. Vanilla
3/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 C. All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 t. Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
1/2 C. Milk

Preheat the oven to 350.  Drain raspberries, reserving juice.  In a buttered 8" square baking pan, combine the drained raspberries, rhubarb and 1/3 C. sugar.  In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy.  Beat in the eggs.  Combine the flours, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and add to butter mixture alternately with the milk starting and ending with the flour mixture.  Scrape evenly over the raspberry-rhubarb mixture.  Bring the reserved juice to a boil with the remaining 1/4 C. sugar and pour this over the batter.  Bake until the cake is firm to the touch, about 50 minutes.  Serve warm, making sure to top each serving with the raspberry rhubarb sauce underneath.
This 1950s KitchenAid Mixer was my grandmother's














Have faith, this looks weird but it's right!







Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Almond, Oat and Flax Thumbprint Cookies

I live in Nova Scotia, a place where practically summery hot days can occur just after a snowstorm.  Spring is more of a concept here than a reality, a very short season bridging winter and summer.  This spring has been s-l-o-w to get going, with really not a lot of dependable lovely sunshine.  Anyway, I'm not complaining, in two weeks the Union Street kitchen will be 40 degrees and sweltering.  
You can well imagine my excitement when my friend Stephanie told me on Saturday that fresh local strawberries had been spotted!   One of the Union Street girls just had a beautiful baby boy and I wanted to bring her strawberry something, but it was not to be: my favourite roadside stand just had a big "sold out" sign on it.  Oh well.  I made up these really good thumbprint cookies instead.  They are nutty with ground almonds and oats and whole wheat flour (sub in light spelt if you like).  I filled the pits of them with blueberry jam that I made last summer and some cinnamon-y apple butter that my good friend Melissa gave me.  You know when you're baking/cooking/creating something and it turns out exactly as good as you'd hoped?  Maybe better, even?  Then you keep looking/admiring/eating it, thinking, wow, that's really good. I can't believe that I made that.  So here you go, and welcome to the world, sweet little Joseph.

Almond, Oat and Flax Thumbprint Cookies
1 C. Roasted Almonds
1 C. Oatmeal
1 1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C. Flax Meal (or grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder)
2 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt

1/4 C. Butter
1/4 C. Canola Oil
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 t. Vanilla
Jam, Jelly, Apple Butter (it's fun and pretty to make different kinds)


Preheat oven to 350° and butter a large baking sheet or two.  In a food processor, grind the almonds until very finely chopped.  Tip into a bowl, then grind the oatmeal until it is a fine powder.  Add the oat flour to the bowl along with the whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large bowl, cream the butter, canola oil and brown sugar.  Add the eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth, then add the flour mixture.  Stir (or mix with your hands) until combined.  Roll mixture into 1" balls and place about 3" apart on the cookie sheet.  Using your thumb, make a well in the middle of the cookie and fill it with jam.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, until puffed and firm.  Cool and enjoy.  These are great in your lunchbox (or so the kids told me!)

Daisy, how'd you get in there?