Apples

Just one of 6 Suprima Farm Apple varieties I tasted yesterday!

When I was eighteen, I announced to my parents that I was going to travel to British Columbia, to pick apples in the Okanagan Valley. This made no sense considering that I had grown up in one of the major apple producing areas in the world and had never once picked a bin. I didn't even know how to strap on the basket, which made it embarassing after telling our first farmer that we were experienced pickers. Apple picking is hard work, but it's fairly lucrative. It's gorgeous and cool in an orchard first thing in the morning, and you get to eat apples.

My favourites have always been the Cortland and Gravenstein, two older varieties that are best when freshly twisted off the tree. They are sweet and crispy with the sour bite that I love in an apple. The Valley grows a huge variety of apples, and hot new additions to the lineup just keep coming. This year our local growers harvested the first commercial crop of SweeTango. After the amazing success of the tasty and expensive HoneyCrisp, I imagine consumers will flock to the store for this newest trend in apples.

Be careful when shopping for apples in the Valley. Shockingly, despite all the wealth of locally grown fruit, apples imported from Chile, the USA and New Zealand are given ample shelf space in most grocery stores. Buy your apples at a market stand and your chances of landing local fruit improve dramatically. Apples are a great value when purchased in 10 or 20 pound bags, but if you can't stuff them in your fridge, you'll have to eat them quickly!

Better yet, visit a U-Pick. Boates even has organic apples in neat old varieties that you can pick yourself. Another favourite of mine is Dempsey Corner Orchards, where you can enjoy the beautiful view of the Valley as you pick from a tree halfway up the North Mountain. Noggins Corner has great apples and a wicked Corn Maze (try going after school rather then on the weekend, it's crazy-busy!). Although Richard Hennigar of Suprima Farms (the JuicePop Man) doesn't have a U-Pick, his was one of many farms in Nova Scotia that were open to the public September 19th during Open Farm Day.  This is a great way to get a behind the scenes look at farms that are not normally open to the public. 

At the restaurant, we'll be baking several varieties of apples into pies, crisps, and cakes. The best for baking include Northern Spy, Jonagold, Gravenstein, and Rhode Island Greening, esteemed by the Joy of Cooking as “perhaps the best of all for cooking” and available from Boates Orchards.

Bavarian Apple Torte serves 10-12

This recipe was one of our inheritances from the Apple Town Cafe, the Cafe we purchased that morphed into Union Street Cafe.  Is it really Bavarian?  I don't know.  But it is certainly delicious!

Shortbread Crust

1 1/4 C. Flour

1/3 C. Sugar

1/4 t. Salt

1/2 C. Butter

Preheat oven to 350. Pulse in food processor until crumbs form and press into a 10-inch springform pan.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until golden.

For the filling:

1 lb. Cream Cheese

2 Eggs

3/4 C. Sugar

1 t. Vanilla

3 lovely Apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced 

2 T. Sugar

1 t. Cinnamon

Blend cream cheese, eggs, 3/4 C. sugar and vanilla until smooth in a food processor and pour over baked crust in pan.  Toss apples with 2 T. sugar and cinnamon and arrange over the filling in a pinwheel pattern.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, until just set in the center.  Let cool, then refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Annette's Apple and Cheddar Focaccia serves 4

This open faced sandwich can be made on any decent, sturdy bread.

¼ C. Mango or any other Chutney

¼ C. Mayonnaise

1 T. Dijon Mustard

4 pieces Focaccia

½ lb. Shaved Ham

½ small Red Onion, sliced

2 Sweet and Crispy Apples, sliced (Red Delicious need not apply)

1 C. Grated Cheddar Cheese

Preheat the broiler and move the oven rack to its highest position. Mix the chutney, mayo and mustard. Lightly toast the focaccia and spread with the chutney mayo. Layer with the ham, onion, apples and lastly the cheddar. Place on a baking sheet and slide under the broiler. Watch like a hawk while the cheese melts, then bubbles, and finally browns.

Applesauce Cake serves 12-16
 This is a simple and nearly fat free cake that is delicious and homey. Try topping it with the leftover applesauce, lightly sweetened if you like, and vanilla yogurt or ice cream.

To make the applesauce, peel 3 pounds of apples and remove cores. Combine with ¼ cup water in a saucepan and cook, covered, over medium-low heat for thirty minutes, until falling apart. Let cool, then mash or process until smooth.

2 C. Applesauce

3/4-1 C. Sugar

2 C. Flour (can be whole wheat)

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

2 t. Cinnamon

2 t. Baking Soda

1 t. Salt

½ C. Raisins, optional

½ C. Toasted Walnuts, optional

Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 9x13 pan. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk unitl just combined. Pour into the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, until springy to the touch.

A Rainbow of Tomatoes

Last night we sat down to my daughter's cooked-all-by-herself macaroni and cheese and a giant plateful of sliced tomatoes, all different shapes and colours. There were tiny and sweet orange tomatoes, large brown and small red cherry tomatoes, bright yellow plum tomatoes, huge red beefsteak tomatoes, green-but-ripe tomatoes and a beautiful kind that is red with green stripes. There is even a kind with fuzzy yellow-orange-pink skin!!! All this is thanks to Josie of Seachange Naturals in Centreville, who grew tomato and other organic vegetable transplants to order this year. In March, I looked through a fantastical list of varieties she was planning to grow and picked 2 dozen to try. They arrived at the Cafe at the end of May looking healthy and lush, ready to bolt out of their already roomy pots. Josie uses only organic fertilizers and much larger containers than most nurseries, which means the plants were already well on their way by the time I planted them in my new and slightly less than ideal garden bed. There they have grown beautifully, and are ripening by the basketful. As long as I can keep the chickens out, we'll have more than enough for us and the Cafe.

We gratefully buy tomatoes from Den Haan's hothouse for most of the year. With a little time in the warm kitchen, they are very good. We have also obtained incredibly early organic tomatoes from the Penners of Goldfinch Farm, who also grow theirs in a wood-heated greenhouse, but on a much smaller scale. Henry and Dora, along with their son Nelson, grow a huge variety of spectacular produce on the outskirts of Berwick (just look for the sign on Willow Avenue or find them at the Wolfville Farmer's Market).

As a kid, I remember briefly preferring the plastic wrapped rectangular cage of hard winter tomatoes to the drippingly sweet and soft tomatoes of summer. I'm not sure what I was going through, but I'm over it now. This sandwich, my favourite of all time, sure helped.

  

My Favourite Tomato Sandwich

Don't make this unless it's tomato time!

2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread, as plain or fancy as you like

1 Clove Garlic, peeled

Mayonnaise

At least 1 perfectly ripe Tomato, possibly more, sliced thickly

A few Basil leaves, sliced into ribbons

Salt and Pepper

Toast the bread and rub one side of each with the garlic. Spread a little (or a lot) of mayonnaise on both. Stack one with as many tomatoes as will fit, sprinkle with salt and pepper and lay on the basil. Top with the other slice of bread, cut in half, and enjoy the rapture.

Grilled Summer Vegetables

Excellent just off the grill, but equally welcome warmed up the next day. May I suggest as a topper for otherwise vegetable-less mac and cheese?

3 medium Zucchini

2 Onions

1 large or 2 medium Eggplants

3 T. Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

1 quart Tomatoes of any and all varieties you can obtain

2 Cloves Garlic

2 T. Balsamic Vinegar

Cut the zucchini thickly on the diagonal. Cut each onion into four wedges. Slice the eggplants thickly and put all the vegetables in a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with a healthy teaspoonful of salt and some pepper to taste. Fire up the barbecue. When it's nice and hot, turn it to medium heat and place each vegetable one by one on the grill. Cover for a few minutes and cook, then turn each piece over with tongs. Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes roughly and place them in the same bowl the vegetables were just in, along with the garlic and balsamic vinegar. When the grilling vegetables have cooked to your liking (make sure the eggplant is completely soft), throw them all in to the bowl. Toss gently. You may want to cut the veggies into smaller pieces before serving, or just cut them up as you eat.

Nothin' Says Lovin' like Focaccia in the Oven

The last two weekends, I have catered weddings. They were both beautiful outdoor extravaganzas, with lovely weather (sunny and breezy), and both took place in gorgeous rural settings. These were hands-on weddings, planned by creative people that really put their heart and soul into putting on a wonderful celebration for their friends and families. Both were breathtaking.
Sometimes in the scramble to get the food ready and to the wedding, I forget that someone is really getting married. Then poof!, the stunning bride appears in her gown. It always takes me by surprise, the power of the idea of a true love promised to last forever. The families, the cake, the kids, the food, the dresses, just the amazing effort of creating a memory. I am always overcome.
Congratulations Candice and Jeremy and Shasta and Patrick!
So I thought I'd provide a couple fun party recipes from these celebrations. Both use a wonderful no-knead focaccia dough. It is amazing and flexible, easy-peasy and impressive. In the first recipe, the dough is baked thick so it can be split and stuffed. In the second, it makes a great thin pizza crust.

Roasted Vegetable Focaccia Bites (We make these all the time, but made up miniature for Candice and Jeremy's wedding, these were a big hit!)

Makes 32 mini sandwiches, or 12 lunch size sandwiches

Focaccia Bread (adapted from Suzanne Dunaway’s No Need to Knead Bread Book)

2 cups Warm Water
2 teaspoons Yeast
4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (or use part Whole Wheat Flour)
1 tablespoon Salt (I use Sifto Kosher Salt at home)
3 tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
2 teaspoons dried Rosemary or 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a large bowl. After five minutes, add the salt, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 2 cups of the flour. Stir until smooth, then add the rest of the flour. Stir with a large spoon for two minutes until the dough is smooth and flour is incorporated. The dough will be very sticky. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in volume, 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat the oven to 500. Oil a 13x18 baking sheet and ease the dough with a scraper onto the middle of it. With oiled fingers, gently spread the dough into a large oval. Let rest for five minutes, then evenly push the dough to fill the pan. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with the rosemary. Place the pan in the oven and reduce the heat to 450. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool in the pan, then cut in half.

Sundried Tomato Mayonnaise:

¼ cup Sun-dried Tomatoes, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
1 clove Garlic
¼ teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons chopped Parsley
1 teaspoon dried Oregano
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until fairly smooth.

Roasted Vegetables:

1 bulb Garlic, top ¼ inch cut off and wrapped whole in foil
4 large Carrots, peeled and cut into thick strips
1 Red Onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 Yellow Onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 bulb Fennel, tops removed and cut into thin slices
1 Red Pepper, seeded and cut into ¼ inch slices
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
Preheat oven to 400. Combine carrots and onions in 13x18 pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, then toss the vegetables until coated. Nestle the garlic packet in the vegetables, and place in oven. Roast until vegetables begin to soften and brown, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Add the fennel and red pepper and stir to coat with the oil. Continue to roast another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally so the vegetables around the sides of the pan don’t burn. Vegetables should be tender and browned. Remove the vegetables to a large bowl, and let the garlic cool. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin into a small bowl. Mash and add the balsamic vinegar, then stir this into the vegetables.

Assemble the Sandwiches:
Split each Focaccia piece horizontally. Spread the bottom and top generously with the sun-dried tomato mayonnaise and layer with roasted vegetables, then the top of the Focaccia. Cut each sandwich into 16 pieces.
You can try adding grilled pork tenderloin or chicken breast for a more substantial sandwich. These are perfect as is, but you can grill them in a panini press with or without mozzarella, too. The vegetables will keep about a week in the fridge and make a great side dish or addition to any pasta recipe.



Spinach and Tomato Pizza
These can be cut into mini wedges after cooling a bit, then arranged on a tray and served at room temperature.

1 recipe Focaccia Dough
2 C. Tomato Sauce (your favourite homemade or bottled)
1 lb. Spinach, trimmed and chopped
3 large Tomatoes, diced
4 C. Shredded Mozzarella
4 fat cloves Garlic, minced

Make the focaccia as described above, but divide between two pans. This will take a little more patience and coaxing, but it will work! Preheat the oven to 425. Spread the dough with the tomato sauce. Layer on the spinach, then the tomatoes, then the cheese. Sprinkle with the garlic. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and browned.