Dear Anonymous

I'm not getting back here as often as I would like, but to be honest the past couple days I haven't been in the kitchen at all. In my time away I have been thinking a lot about a comment I received on my last post from "anonymous".

When I hear friends and family tell others that I have a blog I don't know if I should be embarressed or proud. I mean if you were saying Melissa is writing a newspaper article, or a novel, or a play or a cookbook that would sound impressive, but Melissa is writing a blog. A blog. The word blog is not inspiring. So I wait anxiously to see each persons response.

When I saw a comment on the last post from "anonymous" it really excited me! I mean my friends and family have to indulge me right? But a stranger they have chosen to be here! I have to say anonymous when you asked for a rhubarb recipe I really wanted to make something noteable. I decided to try out a few recipes as I've never made anything with rhubarb before. I have some memories from when I was little dipping large stalks in a big bowl of sugar, curling my nose and wondering why anyone would eat rhubarb.

I wasn't able to get fresh rhubarb since the season has passed but it gave me an excuse to head out to White Feather Farm for some frozen rhubarb (and some chocolate covered pretzels). It's funny because I would have never tried this recipe had it not been for that comment. So now when I put it in my recipe box the title will be "Anonymous's Rhubarb Raspberry Crisp".

Happy Wednesday!

from Martha Stewart

4 cups rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces
2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted, and chopped
1 pint fresh raspberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine rhubarb, granulated sugar, and orange zest and juice in a large bowl. Stir to combine. In another bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Rub butter into flour mixture with your fingers until it is well incorporated. Add oats and nuts and combine. Turn rhubarb into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish, scatter raspberries evenly over surface, and cover with crumb topping. Bake until topping is brown and crisp and juices are bubbling, about 45 minutes.

p.s don't forget some vanilla ice cream!

Hum of the Summer Sun

The summer days are rushing by and I am doing everything I can to make sure I enjoy every last sun ray. If you are a teacher or you know a teacher than you know we can tell you how many days until summer vacation starts from about March on. I am very aware of just how quickly the summer comes and goes. I remind myself that in just a few months we will be scrapping the car windows and shovelling the driveway and then I throw myself into the season; shelling peas, nibbling away on corn on the cob, buying fresh herbs and spitting the cherry pits as far as I can.

Another thing I love about summer is the brief but intense thunderstorms. This afternoon the thunder cracked throughout the house and I lazily read Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life on the couch, then floated around the kitchen thinking about dinner. Just in time the sun came back out for a bbq and nothing says summer like a burger. Here is my open faced feta burger on french crusty bread!

On a side note: I am keeping in mind the iou; yesterday, I made english blueberry fool and today Jen and I made lemon ricotta cookies but they were both pretty mediocre and I want to give you more than that.

Oh and also I've decided I want a kitchen couch. That's right a kitchen couch. There was a small leather cozy one in a bed and breakfast we stayed at in France that I think of often. It would be just perfect. Tonight when I was mixing the batter and moving around the kitchen I thought it would be great to have a cozy little couch for Jen to be sitting on while we visited. Okay... not in this kitchen because my table doesn't even fit in there but a girl can dream.

Feta Burgers

This isn't really a recipe but more of an ingredient list, when I'm making burgers I really just use my eye and judge.

feta cheese, crumbled
extra lean ground beef
basil
oregano
minced onion
olive oil
salt and fresh pepper
bread crumbs
an egg

Mix all ingredients together, form meat into patties and grill on medium.

Grill a slice of french crusty bread lightly and top burger with tomato and red onion. You can top with traditional toppings if you like but I just like to savour the flavour of the feta. mmm feta.

iou

I really was planning on baking for you. I know i have been focused on summer produce lately and thought you would want something sweet. But some days, you just want pasta. for me, those some days are pretty much every day. And, while I admit that I’m a tomato based sauce kind of girl, because it is the summer I felt like wandering.

So about that something sweet, I will have to say iou.

We had a busy weekend errand running, dentist appointments, a wedding shower, drinks and a movie with friends and a ton of yard work to catch up on. the truth is I love busy weekends and really enjoy running errands. We open the sunroof, hook the ipod up in the car and stop for yogurt smoothies at Williams. If it were up to Ryan we would spend the entire weekend watching movies or tv, baking cookies and barely leaving the couch (don’t get me wrong I will happily gulp half a season of west wing or kitchen confidential in one sitting) but I need to get outside too.

After all the running round, we didn’t have a lot of time before meeting Sarah and Andrew for a movie, (Inception, a must see; it is now in my top five) so it had to be a quick dinner but we hadn’t eaten much all day so something tasty was needed. Then I remembered Ina Garten’s recipe had me at first glance.

Summer Pasta (adapted from Ina Garten’s Spaghetti with Shrimp and Broccoli)

4 cups broccoli florets
2 red bell peppers cut into thin strips
olive oil
2 chicken breasts – grilled
4 large garlic cloves cut into thin slivers
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup minced parsley
spaghetti

Preheat the oven to 400. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a little salt. Combine the broccoli, red peppers, ¼ cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper on a baking sheet, toss well and spread out, roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile boil the pasta and set aside 1 ½ cups of the cooking water before you drain the pasta. Heat ½ cup olive oil over medium heat in a large shallow pot. Add the garlic and cook for one to two minutes, stirring frequently, until it just begins to turn golden on the edges. Add the red pepper flakes and cook for 30 more seconds. Carefully add the reserved pasta water to the garlic and oil and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for about five minutes. Add the drained pasta to the garlic oil and toss. Add the cut up chicken breasts, chopped parsley, broccoli and red peppers. Allow the pasta to rest off the heat for a few minutes for the sauce to be absorbed.

Today was another busy day -- but at least I had the leftovers waiting for me in the refrigerator!

What Summer Would Taste Like

As enthusiastic about this blog as you dear readers have been, no one has been more encouraging and at times patient than Ryan. When I’m trying out a new recipe my favourite time to cook is in the early morning or late at night, never ever around meal times.

The problem is I like to take photos of whatever I've made. When someone is waiting for their dinner, watching you walk around the house trying to find the best light for a picture isn’t exactly ideal. Unfortunately for Ryan this was the case tonight.

Iget so excited when summertime comes, the fruits and veggies at the market are bursting with colour and I tend to grossly over-buy; i just can’t resist. After picking up our csa today (zucchini, baby cucumbers, lettuce, garlic, tomatoes, raspberries, cauliflower, broccoli, green onions, and green & yellow beans) I just couldn’t help myself, I added fresh peas, basil and corn. I know I should write a post about one of the other tasty veggies but I don’t know if I have ever enjoyed zucchini season as much as I have these past few weeks. I have been scouring cookbooks high and low for zucchini recipes.

When I stumbled upon this one I had no choice I scrapped all ideas for dinner and ran with the zucchini!

The end result of trying a new recipe at dinner time can be dangerous but today, thankfully, Ryan was so infatuated with the falvours he forgot all about the wait.

You need to have a few things in the house to create this but as soon as it’s ready you have instant indulgence. It was almost impossible to keep Ryan at bay long enough for me to snap a few pictures to share with you.

I started with the recipe from Krisitin via the kitchen sink but found the quantities to be more of a guideline (i differed greatly in mine).

Zucchini-Corn Quesadilla with Goat Cheese and Basil

2 whole-wheat tortillas
1/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (i used more)
1 ounce goat cheese (i used more)
2 ears of grilled corn, kernels cut off the cob – see note below
1/2 cup zucchini, shredded (i used the grater insert in the food processor)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the grill on high. on one tortilla, spread half the monterey jack cheese. Layer the corn kernels, zucchini and basil, dotting the goat cheese on top of the basil. Spread the remaining monterey jack cheese on top, sprinkle with some salt and pepper, and cover with the remaining tortilla, pressing slightly.
Carefully move the quesadilla to the grill. Grill for three minutes per side. For a criss-cross pattern, rotate the quesadilla halfway through each side’s grill time.

Note: to grill corn on the cob, remove husks, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sugar. grill for 7 minutes, rotating half way through.

Share the Love

Have you ever gone over to someone’s house for dinner and while sitting there enjoying every single bite ask politely, what did you put in this? I did this recently. I was in food heaven, loving the texture, the flavours, the colours and I just wanted to recreate this little serving of heaven some other time. The answer was: “oh some stuff”.

Some. Stuff. Seriously? I was no longer experiencing deliciousness. With each bite all I could taste was secrecy and contempt.

There should be no such thing as a secret recipe, the very idea of this boggles my mind. You work hard creating a fantastic dish and now you don’t want to be forever immortalized in recipe boxes around the neighbourhood as “name’s famous apple pie” or “name’s chocolate chip dream cookies”?

I’ve never been one to guard my passions. If I love something, you know about it. So in the spirit of sharing the love, here is something I tried out today.

Happy Friday!

zucchini pasta with walnut pesto (adapted from Emma Petrie at pro bono baker)

3 small - medium zucchini (I used yellow and green)

pesto

3 tbsp walnuts

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove finely grated

1 cup packed parsley leaves

1 tsp fresh lemon juice (and more at the end to taste)

salt and pepper

Lightly toast walnut pieces in a pan with some olive oil.

In a food processor, process the walnuts until they have the consistency of sand. add the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and parsley leaves. Pulse until they come together in a green paste.

Using a vegetable peeler to shave off thin ribbons of zucchini. Add to salted boiling water for about 2 minutes. (just until zucchini is tender - be careful not to over cook). Strain zucchini and add 2 table spoons of the pesto, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 2-3 servings (you will have left over pesto). This would be great with a rotisserie chicken and some mini red potatoes.

Some women dream of a walk in closet...I dream of a walk in pantry

For me food is a passion. Ryan makes fun of me because I stack cook books up beside the bed instead of novels. I get excited to plan meals and write in the margins, taking note of who we could invite over to enjoy that recipe. Last Christmas I was like a small child running around the house with my newest treasure: a signed edition of fresh with anna olson. “Keep it fresh Melissa! – Anna Olson”

This summer I have really challenged myself to “keep it fresh” and buy local whenever possible. We joined Willowtree Farm’s summer csa. The best way to describe it is: a membership to a local farm. Each week we pick up a basket of in season fruits and veggies grown on the farm.

As we slip slowly into the summer the csa is really getting into full swing. This past week our basket was overflowing with bright beautiful produce. We have been lucky to split a full share with Meg and Steve and as a result get an incredible selection) Each week I wait in anticipation to see what we will get and what I can create from it!

The green beans in this week's csa were incredible. Incredible.
This recipe comes together in a snap and uses ingredients you probably already have in your fridge.

1 lb green beans, rinsed and microwave for 4 minutes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water

In a large pan over medium low heat, heat oil adding almonds and toss until lightly toasted, add garlic and let cook for 1-2 min, add beans and water and cover for 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper.

I may be fickle but I know what I like...

I am my mother’s daughter in a lot of ways… not all good ways but that is another story for another day. But, one way I am not is buying in mass quantities and storing in the deep freeze. I can’t decide on Sunday what I will want to eat Wednesday. I’m the girl who bought two wedding dresses and two couches. Fickle. I know. I like to go to the store and see what looks good. What’s fresh and then create meals from there.

I use my freezer for 3 things: ice, ice cream and to store banana’s for banana bread. I have to admit, I have a problem. If you are brave enough to open the freezer door you better duck for cover before frozen banana grenades hit the floor. It’s sad really but I can’t help myself.

There is a comfort in banana bread you just can’t find anywhere else.

I have a ton of banana bread recipes but this is a family favourite. adapted slightly from Molly Wizenberg.

for the bread

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp baking soda
4 medium ripe mashed bananas
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup water

streusel topping

1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp butter

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a loaf pan with non stick cooking spray. Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the banana, eggs, oil, honey, and water. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix well. Using a spatula scrape the batter into the pan.

In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. sprinkle them evenly over the batter.
Bake the bread until a tester inserted into its center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Makes 1 loaf.

Saturday Afternoons

Okay, here we are... the beginning. If there is anyone out there reading this I guess you are the passenger on my new journey into the world of blogging. I should probably warn you I have never considered myself to be a good driver so there is a very good chance we will get lost!

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out why I am attracted to blogging and i think... for now at least... it is to have a creative outlet. I've always considered myself to be a creative person and food and photography is where I try to have some fun; a food/photography blog just seems to tie it all up with a bow.

Anyways, enough with the mission statement because that will change; as the wind blows I am sure. Today was a lazy day. We enjoyed left overs from our Canada day party, napped, watched movies and ate too many mini cherry pies (if that is really possible).

I made mini cherry pies to officially kick summer off. Happy July! I am off for 2 months and have a long list of things I want to do....

start a blog (check)

bake, bake and bake some more...especially the chocolate croissants we had in paris last summer

join a csa (community supported agriculture) and cook seasonally!

browse antique stores in cobourg and port perry

go to the cottage

get in the car with nothing but my camera and drive

make ice cream

watch the sunrise

watch the sunset

make jam

spend long summer nights by the campfire with friends and family

make smores

drink lemonade

get back into yoga

take walks on the beach

start watching the AFI top 100 movie list

I am sure it will grow...but this is what my summer looks like, how about you?

Mini Cherry Pies - adapted slightly from Anna Olson's Baby Cherry Pie Recipe

for the crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 table spoon lemon zest
2-4 tablespoons water

for the filling

4 cups pitted cherries
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 egg
4 tablespoons water
sugar for sprinkling

Using a mixer (Kitchen Aid - my white standing mixer is a dream) combine the dry ingredients and lemon zest, cut in the butter and vegetable shortening, add the lemon juice and water and mix until the dough comes together. Shape into a disk and wrap in saran wrap - chill for an hour in the fridge.

I have yet to get a cherry pitter and believe me I need one (last summer i made 180 mini cherry pies for a golf tournament -pitted every cherry by hand....thank goodness for West Wing DVD's...I think I watched 4 or 5 episodes while I pitted) so if you have any recommendations, please let me know!

Pit cherries and bring sugar and cherries to a simmer on top of the stove. Cook for 15 minutes. Whisk cornstarch and water together before adding to the cherries to thicken. After thickened remove from heat and let cool.

Roll out a little over half of the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into circles to line a 12 cup muffin tin (spray with non stick cooking spray first) fill with cherry filling. roll out remaining dough and cut strips to make a lattice topping, cut lattice into circle and spatula onto mini pies to top. Brush with egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Makes 12 mini pies. Serve warm or cool. They store great in an air tight container for 5 days. (if they last that long - they never do in our house!)

Enjoy!

If you are out there readers there it is...my very first blog entry....hope to hear from you!

Meliss