Beggarow Barbecue Pork

My Grandmother Osburn is a fabulous cook, but that's not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of her.  I think of Beggarow, her home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, an ancient house and acreage steeped in family lore and memories. 

I think of the smell of the box wood hedge in the hot sun.  The creek full of crayfish.  The rooms full of treasured family artifacts, each with its own story.  The coolness of a house built of thick stone walls and plaster hundreds of years before air conditioning was invented.  The gardens where we learned the three distinct shapes of sassafras leaves and how to tell when a raspberry was truly ripe.  The long-unused root cellar built into a hill across the road where we once found a perfectly preserved rabbit skeleton.

Grandmother shared the house with my Grandfather, a man who I think of every time I ladle soup into storage containers at the restaurant.  Again I am a little girl at the old kitchen table surrounded by every container he can find, pouring water as he patiently explains volume in his slow breathy voice.  I know without looking that the corners of his mouth are turned up with amusement as I try to guess which jar will hold the liquid in my glass perfectly.
 
But back to the fabulous cook part.  My Grandmother snipped recipes from magazines and newspapers and had a huge collection of cards containing handwritten recipes passed down the generations.  She fried scrapple and new potatoes on an old gas stove.  She snipped herbs from her garden to make a sauce for her poached salmon and brewed iced tea to drink on the creeping-thyme-perfumed terrace.  At her table I learned to love asparagus and wilted lettuce salad and potato chips fried in lard. My grandparents ate their most elaborate meal at lunch and then had something simple for supper, which I found tremendously exotic.

A few years ago our extended family met at Beggarow for one last time.  My sister and I volunteered to cook a celebratory meal and searched through Grandmother's recipes for something to please a crowd.  This pork, cooked until fall-apart-tender, was so well received by our family that we started making it into Pulled Pork Sandwiches for the Cafe.  I recommend a heaping pile of coleslaw and potato chips on the side, preferably the kind fried in lard!

The Pork Roast after its Spice Massage

Beggarow Barbecue Pork

3 lb. Rolled Boneless Pork Shoulder



The Rub:
2 tablespoons Paprika (smoked if you can find it)
¼ C. Sugar
½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 tablespoon Salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground toasted Cumin
1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground Black Pepper

The Baste:
½ C. Apple Cider Vinegar
½ C. Apple Cider or 1 T. Maple Syrup

The Sauce:

All Ready to Pull!

Drippings from the pork
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1 ½ teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Dry Mustard or 1 tablespoon Dijon-style Mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
1 clove Garlic, minced

Combine the rub ingredients in a small bowl.  Place the pork in a roasting pan and rub all over with the mixture, and sprinkle any remaining into the pan. Place in a 300° oven and roast until the center of the meat reaches 180°, about three to four hours. Every hour, or when you think of it, baste with the cider and vinegar mixed together. Let the meat rest until cool enough to handle, pour off the drippings and then shred the meat with two forks or your hands. Mix the sauce ingredients up, add the drippings and combine with the meat. 

Strawberry Salsa

This time last year: Sugar Snap Peas in Brown Butter

I hope you're as lucky as I am.  I mean, I hope that all of you have a friend, at least one friend, that you can count on and love and who thinks you're wonderful even if you say things that are in poor taste sometimes.  Also, for me, it helps if that dear friend loves food as much as you do!   Last week at my friend Sarah's cottage birthday party, I knew that we'd eat some great food and have some great laughs, the kind that can only come when you're re-telling the same story you've told for just about twenty years, and have maybe drunk a few mojitos.  I brought along some strawberry salsa....


Strawberry Salsa

1 pint Local Strawberries
1 medium Tomato
1/2 C. diced Onion
2 T. Chopped Cilantro
1 T. Chopped Mint
1 t. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
1 t. Hot Sauce, or to taste

Dice the strawberries and tomatoes and combine with the rest of the ingredients.  The mint is really lovely, but could be left out if you can't find any (not a problem for anyone who's ever planted it.)

 Desperation Baked Tortilla Chips

We're short of snack food on purpose right now and it just wasn't going so well.  I remembered I had some corn tortillas in my freezer and made these.  Guess what?  They didn't suck AT ALL.  I'm going to be making these often.

6 Corn Tortillas
2 t. Canola Oil
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 t. Ground Cumin



Preheat the oven to 350.  Stack the tortillas and cut into sixths.  Transfer to a large bowl and drizzle the oil over.  Toss, then sprinkle on the salt and cumin.  Toss again and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes (chips will crisp as they cool).

Cilantro Avocado Dip with Yogurt

Can I convince you to try another guacamole recipe?  This one is so yummy!  "Some of the best guac I've ever had" says Sean Peori.

1 ripe Avocado
1/2 clove Garlic
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 C. Yogurt
2 T. Cilantro
1/4 C. minced Onion


Mash the avocado in a medium bowl.  Mince the garlic with the salt and add to the bowl.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and dig in.  This will keep quite well for a couple days with plastic wrap pressed right to its surface (the only sure way to prevent browning).

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.

A Sure Sign of Spring: The Local Hothouse Tomato

See this?  It is a Den Haan's hothouse tomato.  It is not from Mexico, has not traveled thousands of miles to get here and is not months old.  It looks like a tomato.  It smells like a tomato.  It even tastes like a tomato! Hallelujah!  More sure than even the sight of Roll-Up-the-Rim cups littering the highways, its presence at your local grocery store is a sure sign of spring in Nova Scotia.

I really do limit my tomato consumption in winter.  Den Haan's takes a break from growing during the darkest months, and tomatoes from Florida and Mexico are picked by people in seriously undesirable working conditions.  You can read the article Politics of the Plate:The Price of Tomatoes here.  Plus, they taste bad, not an insignificant factor for me.

Den Haan's tomatoes are as close as we can get right now to full garden flavour, and I'm grateful to them for providing this to us!  We have been enjoying them chopped up and folded into scrambled eggs in the last minute of cooking, in thick slices on toast with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and diced into a simple and delicious fresh salsa. 

Union Street Salsa

At the Cafe, we make this in quantity with good quality canned tomatoes .  It's great.  But this, made minutes before consumption, is superb.  You substitute 1 can diced tomatoes, drained slightly, if all the tomatoes at your store are imports.

2 C. chopped Tomato
1/4 C. minced Red or Yellow Onion
1 small Green Pepper, diced
1/4 C. Banana Peppers, minced
1 t. Cumin, toasted and ground
1/4 C. chopped fresh Cilantro
1/4 t. Salt

Combine in a bowl and taste.  Add a little more salt if you like, maybe a dash of hot sauce, maybe a smidgen of garlic.  Welcome spring!

Oh, Honey!

Kate's Pantry at Union Street

My mom tells a story about when I was a baby and she had to leave me with a sitter. I was freaking out, crying and carrying on and making her feel so desperate that the babysitter started spooning honey into my mouth. Apparently this worked, because she kept on doing it right up to the moment that my horrified mother walked in the door. Honey is not for babies (there is a slight risk that honey can be contaminated with the spores of  botulinum, not a concern for anyone older than one year of age).  

Honey is a miracle of nature. When I imagine all those bees sucking up tiny slurps of nectar, then flying home, placing it in a honeycomb cell and fanning it with their tiny wings to concentrate it, it just seems unbelievable!  I try to keep this in mind as I greedily devour honey by the spoonful.  

The Annapolis Valley produces some really lovely honeys.  Many beehives are placed in apple orchards to aid in pollination, and our honey often contains the nectar of the flowers of these and other fruit trees, plus berries and wildflowers.  I love the honeys (and the beautiful packaging!) produced by Cosman and Whidden and Foote Family Farm.

I used to live on Saltspring Island, hippie mecca on the West Coast of Canada. My favourite coffee shop made a popular stoner snack called the E-Ball, and when my aunt Kate opened her beautiful coffee shop next door to our restaurant, I wanted to recreate them for her. They are full of honey and peanut butter, packed with fruit, and yes, dipped in chocolate. Skip the dipping if you like, it's a real pain in the ass (though it does hold the ball together nicely) and instead add 1 cup of chocolate chips to the mix.

Energy Balls 

1 C. Peanut Butter

1 1/2 C. Oats

1 1/2 C. Sunflower Seeds

1 C. Raisins

1 C. Dried Cranberries

1/4 C. Honey

1/2 C. Coconut

1 C. Chocolate Chips  

Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil.  Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop up the "dough" and roll it into a ball.  Place in the fridge while you melt the chocolate.  Get out a medium sized pot and add a couple inches of water.  Bring that to a boil, then place the chocolate in a metal bowl that just fits on top of the pot.  Stir it a bit as it melts, but be careful that no water gets in.  Dip each ball into chocolate to coat, shake off excess and place on tray.  Refrigerate to set.

Valley Mushrooms

Mushrooms. I used to find them unappealing, gross actually. And now I adore them, crave them, dream about them. This has happened with plenty of foods since I've grown up-eggplant and cilantro among them.

Luckily for me, a mushroom fix is always close by. Julia and Leonard North of Valley Mushrooms grow gorgeous Button, Cremini and Portabello mushrooms just down the road, and we've incorporated them into all kinds of dishes at the Cafe: a fabulous burger topped with Garlic Portabellos and Swiss Cheese, Spinach Salad with Button Mushrooms, Wicked Fries (our version of potato skins, with portabellos, bacon and green onions) and our ever-popular Cream of Mushroom Soup. At Christmastime, I was taken by a sign advertising oyster and shitake mushrooms for sale, an experiment that I hope Leonard repeats regularly! I sauteed them along with portabellos and garlic as part of our Christmas feast..they were amazing.

Mushrooms are a rich source of tasty. Their mouthwatering deliciousness is partly due to the presence of glutamic acid. You've heard of the fifth taste, or umami? This refers to a savouriness, a meatiness, that is present in foods containing glutamic acid, the natural form of monosodium glutamate. Mushrooms have it, so do tomatoes and dulse.

If you live in the Valley, choose Valley Mushrooms. Otherwise, the closest growers are in Ontario, and by the time their mushrooms get here, they are usually old and leggy (mushrooms keep growing in the box, their stems lengthening). You can buy Valley mushrooms at grocery stores, at the Wolfville Farmer's Market at Elena Basevich's Bakery stand (have a Pecan Cinnamon Bun for me, too) or at their retail outlet across from the Michelin plant in Waterville. Go ahead and stock up-mushrooms freeze very well once cooked!

Simple Amazing Mushrooms with Garlic

Use these as a pizza topping, omelet filling, accompaniment for steak or straight out of the pan, with or without garlic bread! 

3 T. Butter

1 Onion, diced,

2 cloves Garlic, minced

3 lb. Mushrooms. sliced (any kind:Portabellos, Button, Shitake, Oyster, King)

½ t. each Salt and freshly ground Pepper

2 T. chopped Parsley (optional)

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic and mushrooms. Cook and stir as the mushrooms release their liquid. Continue to cook, stirring often, as the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms brown a little. Add the salt, pepper and parsley and remove from heat.

Cream of Valley Mushroom Soup

1/3 C. Butter

1 lb. Mushrooms, sliced (a mix of white, cremini and portabello mushrooms are nice)

1 Onions, diced

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1/3 C. Flour

5 C. Chicken Stock

3/4 C. Whipping Cream

1 t. Salt

1/4 t. freshly ground Pepper

1/8 t. freshly Grated Nutmeg

2 T. chopped Parsley

Heat the butter in a heavy pot over medium high heat and add the onions and mushrooms. Stir and cook until mushrooms have released their liquid, then add the garlic. Continue to cook, stirring often, until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are beginning to brown. Add the flour and cook another minute, then whisk in half the stock. When the mix is smooth, add the rest of the stock. Whisking fairly frequently to prevent lumps, bring the soup to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the cream, nutmeg, parsley and salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning.

Back to School Pancakes

I love Christmas. The planning, the preparations, the parties, the shopping, the cooking. The eating, the drinking, the excitement. The last minute wrapping, the pleasant fuzzy haze that is the result of too many late nights. The promising pile of presents under the tree. Irish Cream in your coffee. Believing.

However, by the time New Year's Day rolls around, I am thankful that it's all over. It's January, season of relaxation for a restaurant. We'll have time for all the things that we missed over a busy December, including our own Christmas party. The kids will go back to school, we will slowly un-decorate, and life will go back to normal. Around here, the bus pulls up pretty early: about twenty after seven. Molly and Rowan love a hot breakfast, and that can be challenging. Our solution has been to make up a breakfast menu and mostly stick to it. On Tuesdays, I drive them to school so we have a little extra time, and that means pancakes! This pancake mix was my Christmas present this year to my friends and family, along with a basket of eggs, some peach-ginger syrup, and a good chunk of scrapple, a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty that is a cross between polenta and sausage.  You can make up this mix, store it in a cool place, and have pancakes on the table in no time flat!

Four Grain Pancake Mix

Pancake Mix all ready for giving

4 C. Whole Wheat Flour

1 C. Ground Flax Seed

1 ½ C. Oatmeal

1 C. Cornmeal

½ C. Baking Powder

½ C. Sugar

4 t. Salt

Combine in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Scoop into a resealable bag or jar and refrigerate. When you're ready for pancakes, add to each cup of mix:

1 Egg, lightly beaten

3/4 C. Milk

1 t. Oil

1 t. Vanilla

Maple Syrup or Honey, for serving

Stir gently until combined. Heat a large, heavy frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes before adding a teaspoon of butter or oil and tilting the pan in all directions to coat. Spoon in pancake batter and let cook until the edges look dry and bubbles have formed on top. Flip, cook another minute or so, then turn onto a plate and eat with maple syrup or honey. Add more butter or oil to the pan for subsequent batches.

You can also add 1 C. fresh or defrosted berries to the batter, or 1 C. diced apple or banana. Or really any fruit.

The Carrotiest Carrots

I've been holding out on you. I know where the tastiest carrots in the Valley are and I haven't told you yet. Let me just give you some clues. These carrots are organic. One of these farmers doesn't wear shoes unless he really has to. Another is the smiling face behind their beautiful veggie stand at the Wolfville Farmer's Market. And their son Nelson just opened a fabulous restaurant right behind Union Street Cafe called the Black Trumpet.

So the barefoot grower of tasty carrots is Henry Penner of Goldfinch Farms. He and and his wife Dora grow an amazing variety of vegetables on their farm on Willow Avenue, practically in the town of Berwick. From salsify to parsnips to a rainbow of peppers and tomatoes, squash, leeks that would set world records for their size, parsley root, spinach, even peanuts, they grow it all without chemicals and with, it would appear, a lot of love. 

Henry and Dora now own the Rising Sun Health Food Store in Berwick, and they stock a fridge with their own produce. Henry will gladly fill orders for larger quantities if you just ask. 

Sawler's carrots are also grown outside of Berwick and are widely available at grocery stores. They are the folks that produce a lot of the Valley's cabbage, turnips and onions and keep the kid's soccer program going! I love their trucks, retro green with red boxes. You are welcome to stop by their wholesale/retail outlet and stock up for winter (very inexpensively) at 189 Pleasant Valley Road. Just take Exit 15 off highway 101, head north, then take the very first right.

At the Cafe, we've been experimenting with Rainbow Carrots from Wilmar Acres. Marketed under the Country Magic label, they are a fun way to add colour and have great flavour, too!  Today we made this wonderful salad for the buffet.

Roasted Moroccan Carrot Salad

12 Carrots (use assorted colours if you can)

1 Red Onion, sliced

3 T. Olive Oil

1 t. Salt

2 T. Lemon Juice

1 clove Garlic, minced

1 t. Cumin, toasted in a small frying pan until fragrant

1/2 t. Sriracha Hot Sauce (or not)

1/4 t. Cinnamon

2 T. Parsley

2 t. Honey

Pomegranate Seeds and Chopped Cilantro for garnishing, optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Peel carrots, and cut into 1/2" pieces.  Place in a large bowl with the onion, olive oil and salt.  Toss to coat the vegetables and spread onto a baking sheet.  Roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until carrots have softened and are beginning to brown.  Meanwhile, whisk the  lemon juice, cumin, optional hot sauce, cinnamon, honey and parsley until combined.  When the carrots are ready, scrape them back in the bowl with all their oil and toss with the dressing while still warm.  Serve salad right away or chill until cold and serve, garnished with the pomegranate seeds and cilantro.

Honey Roasted Carrots

So simple, but so yummy. Try this for Christmas dinner!

2 lb. Carrots, peeled or just well washed

2 T. Butter, melted

2 T. Honey

Preheat oven to 400°. Chop the carrots into ½ inch chunks. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and drop the carrots in, then reduce the heat and cover for about ten minutes, until carrots are tender. Drain and combine in a 9x13 pan with the butter and honey. Roast uncovered for 30-45 minutes, until carrots are glazed and browned.

Fast and Picky

My friend Katie has a truly funny mama blog. It's called Katie Anna. Don't read it while you're eating, because you will laugh out loud involuntarily and you may ruin your computer. Anyway, she suggested recently I come up with some good quick supper ideas that work for families, something I'd been thinking about a lot. That's because school has started, along with Brownies and Beavers. And I'm now packing two little lunches (the night before, so far, so good) with the kiddies' likes and dislikes in mind. Even someone who really enjoys cooking can get a little tired of the whole dinner thing, especially with children who don't appreciate their efforts. As my daughter gummed her Duck Confit at one year of age, I had hopes of raising mini epicureans, but now I keep it simple. That way, they don't cry when I put supper on the table.

My weeks go best when I plan a menu. If you enjoy reading food magazines or cookbooks at all (and I'm guessing that if you're reading this, you might) spend some time noting things you'd like to try. Then make a list of your family's tried and true favourites. Think about the week to come and slot things in accordingly. If you get really organized, you can take care of some things when you have the time, like on the weekend. Many prepared soups and casseroles keep well for up to a week, even improving (to a point). Make a grocery list so you're only running to the store once a week.

I was getting a lot of resistance at mealtimes until I discussed the issue with my co-worker, Alexis (remember, your childless friends often have the best parenting advice). She suggested to let the kids pick what's for dinner once a week, thereby winning cooperation, and it's worked really well. My daughter has even taken over cooking that meal (yes!), so we plan something she can handle, like quesadillas or macaroni and cheese. That inspired my son to want to help, too.

Perfectionist mommies and daddies, be flexible about what you call dinner. The first time we ate waffles at 6 pm, I felt guilty. Scrambled eggs and toast with a little fruit on the side might seem weird, but it's nutritionally sane and it's fun (hard to choose a wine, though). The same goes for sandwiches. Set up a Subway-style sandwich bar with roasted chicken or ham, sliced pickles, cucumbers, (in my son's world, these count as two separate vegetables) tomatoes, peppers, cheese and some good bread and condiments. Then place your order.

Other do-ahead Kitchen Witch recipes your kids might enjoy include the Baked Tofu and Thai Pork Burgers (while you top yours with cilantro and chili sauce, they can mask the taste of that nasty basil with ketchup and mustard).

Big Batch Chili

At our house, this is a favourite. The optional toppings make it fun and kid-friendly. You may notice it's vegetarian, but feel free to add a pound of browned ground beef or cooked diced chicken.  It makes a big batch but it freezes brilliantly.

1 T. Olive Oil

1 large Onion, diced

2 cloves Garlic

2 Sweet Peppers, diced (green or red or one of each)

4 stalks Celery, diced

3 T. Chili Powder

2 t. Salt

3 Cans of Beans (Black, Kidney and White Beans are nice, but it's your choice!)

2 28 oz cans diced Tomatoes

1 small can Tomato Paste, optional

2 C. frozen or fresh Corn

Topping Ideas: Plain Yogurt or Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese, Sliced Olives, Banana Peppers, Diced Avocado, Hot Sauce, and Crushed Tortilla Chips

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, peppers and celery, and stir and cook for about ten minutes, until softened and aromatic. Add the salt and chili powder, and stir another minute. Add the beans with their liquid, and the tomatoes with all their liquid. Stir up the pot and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let cook for about half an hour. Stir in the optional tomato paste and ground beef or chicken if you like, and the corn. The chili is ready to serve once the corn has heated through. Serve the toppings at the table and dig in!

Made-to-Order Quesadillas 
 

These are really just Mexican grilled cheese sandwiches. Choose a decent whole wheat tortilla and talk your kid into as many vegetables as they can handle (sometimes, that's none). At the Cafe, we mix up a filling of black beans, diced mango, red pepper, charred corn and green onion and place a handful of that on top of the cheese. It's delish.

For each quesadilla:

1 large (or small!) Tortilla

a handful grated Mozzarella or Cheddar Cheese

Refried Beans straight from a can, or process 1 can Black or Kidney Beans with 1 clove Garlic and
1 T. Chili Powder until smooth

Optional Fillings: Diced Peppers, Green or Red Onion, Tomatoes, Corn, Pineapple, Mango, Diced leftover Chicken, Pork or Beef

Salsa and Sour Cream for serving

Preheat the oven to 350° if making a quantity of quesadillas. If you're making only one or two, just heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Spread some beans and sprinkle cheese over the whole tortilla and add as many of the optional toppings as you would like. Place the tortilla in the pan. When the bottom has browned and the cheese has melted, fold the whole thing in half and transfer it to your plate. If you're making lots of quesadillas, fold each quesadilla in half once filled and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes until filling is hot. Serve with salsa and sour cream on the side.

From the Freezer Meatballs

I got this idea from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. Meatball in the freezer=money in the bank. Saute them straight from frozen and serve with veggie sticks and mashed potatoes, bake them (no need to thaw) on top of a pizza, or add directly to simmering tomato sauce (yours or the store's) and cook for ten minutes before serving them with spaghetti. Isn't that brilliant? Thanks, Martha.

2 lb. Ground Beef or Pork (or a mix of both)

¼ C. Minced Parsley

3 cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 C. Grated Parmesan Cheese

¼ C. Breadcrumbs

2 Eggs

1 t. Salt

Pepper and maybe a grating of fresh Nutmeg

Combine everything in a bowl. Form into about 80 little meatballs, placing each one on a baking sheet. Freeze until solid and store in a resealable plastic bag.

Zucchini

 

I bought a food magazine last week (hard to choose these days!) and was taken by a picture of the month's featured ingredient, Zucchini. A row of gorgeous specimens was laid out, all with flowers attached, in tight shiny skins. It made me feel sad for those grocery store zucchini, all pitted, dull, and half rotten. Zucchini is rarely displayed in the refrigerated section, where it really needs to be. This leaves us no choice but to buy our zucchini straight from a farmer, or find a little room and grow our own. I get my fill of zucchini every summer, when my plants produce enough for me, the Cafe, and our sweet little laying hens.


They love to wander the garden, pecking for slugs, snails, and the butt end of any zucchini they can reach. Almost all the zucchini I have harvested this year have had to be trimmed at the end to get rid of beak marks. I am happy to share, as zucchini is one of those garden treasures that rarely fails to provide. The hens were an addition this spring, when my daughter, who had wished on the first star she saw tonight for over two years now, finally got her dream of being a farmer. I may have influenced things a little, pointing out that while the pig, pony, goats and sheep she wanted would be very nice, chickens were probably all we could handle right now. We have a flock of 16 birds, including two young roosters who are in a contest for their very lives that they know nothing about. Unless they can work it out peaceably, it is likely one will get eaten for Thanksgiving.



My parents' garden one year produced an overabundance of baseball bat sized squash. I'm not sure how old we were, but my sister Meagan and I were determined not to let any go to waste. We decided to make zucchini loaf, something we had enjoyed at least once and that was supposed to freeze well (zucchini on its own is not a great freezer). My mother looked the other way as we blew through her baking supplies, using at least $30 worth of ingredients saving what most people would have thrown in their compost heap, or shoved into their neighbour's mailbox (not the kind of gifting I was referring to last week). In the end, we got super sick of zucchini bread, and threw many freezer burned specimens out the next spring. My strategy now is to pick zucchini small, 6-8 inches at most, and use it up right away in savoury dishes. There will always be one or two that escape your notice before turning into monsters. This is what you should use in baking, as it is practically flavourless. Or throw it to your chickens.

Zucchini with Olive Oil and Garlic
If you still don't like zucchini, try this simple but very delicious method.

4 medium or 8 small Zucchini sliced into 1/4” disks
2 t. Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan, optional

Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Swirl in the olive oil, and let heat for a minute. Add the zucchini. Stir and cook for about five minutes, until the zucchini is hot and just tender. Add the garlic and salt and pepper to taste (lots of pepper is great in this). After another minute of cooking, the zucchini is ready to eat. If you like, you can sprinkle with an optional tablespoon or two of parmesan, then stick the whole pan under the broiler until the cheese is bubbling and browned.


Zucchini Muffins
These are great fresh. And still great frozen. But if you multiply this recipe and freeze it, it is at your own risk.

2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 C. Sugar (Just Us! has inexpensive Fair Trade sugar)
2 t. Baking Powder
2 t. Cinnamon (optional)
½ t. Salt
3 Eggs
1/2 C. Canola Oil
1 T. Vanilla
4 C. Grated Zucchini, squeezed of most moisture
1 C. Chocolate Chips or Toasted Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners, or grease well with oil. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl whisk the eggs, oil, and vanilla and pour over the dry ingredients. Add the zucchini and chocolate or walnuts, and then stir just to combine. Divide the mixture between muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops are springy to the touch.


Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

1 1/2 C. Flour (part Whole Wheat or all Spelt works great)
1 C. Sugar
1/3 C. Cocoa
1 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
1/4 C. Canola Oil
1 T. White Vinegar
1 t. Vanilla
1 C. Cold Water
11/2 C. Grated Zucchini (about 1 medium)
1 C. Chocolate Chips
Preheat oven to 350°.  Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oil, vinegar, vanilla, water, zucchini and chocolate chips and stir gently until just combined. Pour into muffin pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Veggies at Keji

Lyss at our Kejimkujik Kitchen

We went camping last week. That's why I've been missing. We left for Kejimkujik National Park on Saturday and didn't return until Thursday afternoon. That's a lot of advance food planning, and a long time to keep a cooler cold. Camping at Keji has been a longstanding tradition with my family, my parents taking my sister and I nearly every year when we were kids. As I've told you, my mom is an excellent and adventurous cook, and cooking over a campstove in the middle of the woods with no running water is not going to deter her from making exactly what she wants, be it Coconut Curry with Cauliflower and Dhal, or Hodge Podge, or fresh Guacomole. This, after all, is the woman who has made risotto (for the first time!) during a power outage caused by a snow storm raging outside, using the same stove and hoping for the best as far as carbon monoxide goes.

I'm my mother's daughter, so I had to have a few essentials: Pepper Grinder, Homemade Granola Bars, Lobster, Pesto, Chocolate, Fresh Dates, Blueberries, Raspberries, Kale, Swiss Chard, New Potatoes, many Zucchini, Fresh Basil, Cilantro, Peanut Ginger Baked Tofu, Curry Sauce from the Cafe, Tomatoes, Lemons, Toasted Almonds and Cashews, a Baguette, some Pesto Hummus (my new invention), Roasted Eggplant, Mango Chutney, Bananas, Garlic, and of course, Sweet Thai Chili Sauce. And some hot dogs. I didn't panic when I discovered that I forgot the Parmagiano and a little cheese grater, because I knew my mother would show up with both.
My cousin Melyssa and my sister Meagan were among my camping companions, along with husbands, children, and an ever-changing roster of dear friends new and old. We did a little advance planning to cooperate on meals and Melyssa and I spent a few hours preparing some of the longer-cooking, more complicated menu items at home. My garden was exploding, so I did my best to hold it at bay by cramming many more vegetables than we could possibly eat into our cooler.

That first night, we enjoyed my Chicken and Vegetable Curry with Melyssa's Dhal and some Naan bread that she toasted over the flames, along with amazing Samosas my friend Melissa brought along. The meals all week continued in the same way. Every evening at dinner time, we laughed at ourselves for being so ridiculous, but also felt gratitude for being in the company of others who find such pleasure in these small luxuries. After all, we've got to eat! Might as well make it good.

Peanut Ginger Baked Tofu

Wrap this up with veggies, basil and cilantro and Thai Chili Sauce for a wonderful wrap, or serve it with steamed vegetables and rice. The tofu keeps for a week or two in the fridge, or forever in the freezer.

2 lb. Tofu (if you live here, use Acadiana!)
2 T. Peanut Butter
3 inch piece of Ginger
8 cloves Garlic
½ C. Soy Sauce
½ C. Canola Oil
½ C. Sugar
1 T. Sesame Oil
Blend everything except the tofu in the food processor. Cut the tofu in 1x2 inch pieces, and place on a baking sheet. Pour marinade over and bake at 350 until crispy...but not burned, about 25 minutes.


Granola Bars that are Good for You

This is a very flexible recipe-the last 7 ingredients can be changed up as you see fit. Try dried apricots, figs, dates, dried cherries or dried blueberries for the fruit. Cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, really anything goes for the nuts. Just do not omit the chocolate. My daughter insists it is key to the success of this recipe.

1/2 C. Peanut Butter (or half Peanut and half Almond Butter)
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Milk or Soy Milk
1/2 C. Honey
2 T. Oil
2 t. Vanilla
3/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 C. Plain Soy Protein Powder (Look in the health food section or substitute whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 C. Oatmeal
1 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 C. Raisins
1/2 C. Dried Cranberries (Terra Beata uses NS Fruit)
1 C. Chocolate Chips
1/2 C. Chopped Almonds
1/2 C. Ground Flax Seed or Sesame Seeds
1/2 C. Sunflower Seeds
1/2 C. Coconut

Grease a standard size cookie sheet with canola oil. Combine everything in a large bowl and mix well, then pack evenly into the pan. Use wet hands to smooth it down, then bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Cool for about half an hour, then cut into 32 bars. Freeze in an airtight container. These are great straight from the freezer, so hide them well. They will also keep for at least a week on your next camping trip, or in the glove box, or your gym bag.


Pesto Hummus

This is way easy if you have pesto, and really yummy, too!

1 Can Chick Peas, drained
2 T. Lemon Juice
1/4 C. Pesto

Throw this all in the food processor and blend, adding water as necessary, until smooth. Scrape it into a serving dish, or divide into 1 Cup plastic containers and freeze. The top will discolour quickly from the pesto, but stir it up just before serving and you will find it deelish!

PS My Mom and Dad wrote a great song about camping at Kejimkujik with deluxe food and the company of raccoons. They are famously clever at Keji and they always manage to get something, no matter how careful you are! Here are the lyrics, as my special bonus to you. Sing it to any tune you want, or buy a copy of the Lustre Brothers CD Live at the Whittle at the Cafe.


RACCOON BLUES
© Anna & Don Osburn 1994

Raccoon raid on our camp last night
Raccoons came, took everything in sight
Took my fresh-made pesto and a cheesecake, too
But they left the avocado, guess they didn’t know what to do

CHORUS:
With the avocado, the tequila, and the lime
I think they would’ve figured it out, if they only had the time
Well, the scene bordered on the bizarre
Some might say it was sublime
I saw `em feastin’ in the moonlight
Gettin’ mellow on my wine.

We had a merry little band of masked marauders
Every one one of them a sophisticated robber
Broke into the cooler with skill and ease
Solved a combination lock, and absconded with the cheese....

CHORUS:
But they left the avocado.... etc.


Breakfast this morning was kind of lean,
`Cause the raccoons left us with low cuisine
No bagels, no bacon, took the brandied jam
Now guacamole and a shot glass are lookin’ like the plan....

CHORUS:
`Cause they left the avocado.... etc

Lobster

Nova Scotia. The land where lobster reigns supreme and is a treat, even for those who live close to a dock. If you're lucky, as I have been three times in my life (twice in the last week!), someone will give you some lobster out of the blue. Then, when you eat it, it tastes ten times as good for being a gift. Last Tuesday, at 9:30 pm, I got a phone call offering me nine lobsters if I would pick them up NOW. That meant starting a pots of water to boil at 10, mercilessly stuffing in blue and green lobsters in ones and twos (my pots are really too small), setting the timer, pulling them out when red, and finally finding room for the giant bowl that contained them in the fridge. Then, the next day, I pulled off all the tails, claws and legs, cracked them all open, and ended up with a pile of lobster meat.

The tails are easy. Just cup them in your hand, squeeze hard until the shell cracks, then open them from the front like you're shelling peas and pop out the meat. If you have a nice big one, those little mermaid fins on the bottom of the tail shell each contain a lovely little fan-shaped piece of meat, too. Personally, I like to pull back the top of the tail meat to reveal the intestine and get that thing the heck out of there. I also take the opportunity at this point to rinse off the tomalley (green mushy liver). The claws and sections of knuckles attached are a little harder. Separate them all from each other, then place each claw on a hard surface and whack with a mallet or the flat side of a hammer until it cracks from one side to the other. Pull it open until you can ease out the claw meat, wiggling the little pincer claw as you go (it might pop out attached, or it might break off. If it does break, you'll have to fish it out with a toothpick or skewer). For the knuckles, cut through the shell on one side with strong scissors or shears, then push the meat out. For legs (and only bother if they're from a large lobster) roll the meat right out with a rolling pin. You'll have a pile of meat that looks considerably small compared to your efforts. I like to slice the tail, leave the knuckle meat, and cut the claws in half horizontally so they still look like claws.

I have learned to really love lobster, but I don't like the hassle of dealing with the giant bug right at the table. So I go through the above fuss beforehand, preferably the day before. By the next day, I've forgotten how gross dealing with lobster is and how cranky it makes me. Then, I simply reheat the meat gently in garlic butter, pop a baguette into the oven, and make a salad. The lobster goes right to the table in the pan, we dip our bread into the juices and eat ourselves silly. No one gets spattered in lobster juice, or stabbed by prickly parts, or feels stupid because they don't know how to crack a lobster.   Best of all, no one wears a plastic bib.

By the way, the second time the lobster miracle happened this week, it was at a cottage resort we were staying at over the weekend. Our neighbour two cottages down offered my mom a bag of five beautiful squirming lobsters. Apparently, the people at the next cottage over had turned them down. I felt bad when they were watching us devouring the lobsters at our outdoor picnic table, so we called them over for a pre-cooked, pre-shelled share. I think we were all happy with our luck, and very grateful to our lobster benefactor.

Steamed Lobster
My Dad and I argued about the relative cruelty of steaming versus boiling. I think I've convinced him that live steam is hotter, does the job quicker, and is way easier.

Lobsters (plan on at least 1 ½ lb. Lobster per person)
Salt
Big Pot

Put two inches of water in the bottom of the pot and bring to a boil. Add a couple tablespoonfuls of salt. Remove the bands from the claws if you're crazy (I'm not) and lower as many lobsters as will fit into the pot. Clap on the top and let the water come back to a boil. Start timing. For 1 ½ lb. Lobsters, cook for 12 minutes after the water comes back to a boil. For 2 lb. Lobsters, cook for 14 minutes. Add an extra 2 minutes for every ½ lb after that. Pull the lobsters out with tongs, then eat right away with garlic butter, or let cool (overnight in the fridge if you like) and crack as described above. To reheat, melt a couple tablespoons of butter over low heat in a heavy pan and add a minced clove or two of garlic. Toss in the lobster pieces and heat for about five minutes, turning them occasionally, until warm throughout. Serve straight from the pan at the table with crusty bread and a tangy salad. Lobster freezes very well packed in airtight containers. It's a fun thing to have tucked away in your freezer, and even a half cup adds an air of luxury to a pasta dish for unexpected company (especially from away), as a garnish for bruschetta topped with tomato and basil, or with a little good mayo, some chopped celery and freshly ground pepper in a sandwich. Let your enjoyment be commensurate with the enormous effort you've put in to preparing such a treat!

Honey Curry Dip

We throw two official staff parties every year-one in January after the craziness of Christmas parties has died down, and the other on Canada Day, just before the craziness of summer begins. There's also a Halloween party whenever someone has the desire to spearhead it. Union Street Cafe's staff are a family, albeit somewhat dysfunctional, and we truly love one another. Just as we're getting on each others' nerves, a little festive fun time can lift everyone's spirits and help us remember it's just a restaurant we work at, not an emergency room.
Of course, food figures into the fun even more then drink, so a couple weeks beforehand, I dream up some tasty snacks that bear almost no resemblance to what we serve at work. This past Thursday, that meant Greek Chicken Pitas, Vietnamese Meatball Sandwiches, miniature Hamburgers and a veggie tray with a super yummy and somehow retro-tasting Honey Curry Dip. I highly recommend it with the sweet little Sugar Snap Peas that are hitting their stride right about now.
I can also tell you that mayonnaise, being so utterly commonplace, becomes somewhat of a miracle (and I don't mean Whip) when made with your five year old son and two year old nephew. For that kind of fun, take one Egg and put it in a blender or food processor. Add a big pinch of Salt and a teaspoon of Dijon, plus a teaspoon of Vinegar or Lemon Juice. Get the motor running, then drizzle in 1½ cups Canola Oil very slowly. Watch their amazement (and maybe even your own) as the mayonnaise thickens before your very eyes! Then use it in this dip, and refrigerate the rest for your sandwiches, potato salad or perhaps licking off the spoon (you know who you are).

Honey Curry Dip
1 T. Curry Powder
1 T. Canola Oil
1 C. Sour Cream
½ C. Mayonnaise
¼ C. Honey (I use Foote Family Farms)
½ t. Salt
¼ C, Chopped Cilantro (optional, but highly recommended)

Heat the oil with the curry powder over medium high heat in a small skillet. After a minute or so ,the mixture will foam and smell very aromatic. (This step will absolutely elevate your dip above all other curry concoctions). Remove it from the heat. In a bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, honey and salt, and scrape in the curry and oil mixture. Add the cilantro and serve with assorted veggies, crackers (rice crackers are especially good) or potato chips. After chilling, the dip is thick enough to be a delicious condiment for burgers or folded into diced chicken, cranberries, celery and green onion for a killer Chicken Curry Salad.

I have personally banned this dip from my refrigerator since I cannot resist its call, but if you make a batch, please invite me over.