Lately

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I’ve been itching to bake a tart with summer berries, but after tasting my gooseberries and the like (black currants, red currants and raspberries), I think I might have to give them a week of sunshine to get that last oomph of sweetness (if the sun ever decides to come out). So today, I’m going to share an assortment of photos related to  casual meals, a local farmer’s market visit and my latest addiction, London Fog tea.

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Dolce Grey tea from BEAN AROUND BOOKS & TEA.

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Lavender shortbread: to me, a touch of vanilla and lavender from the shortbread enhances the experience of the London Fog tea since I like my tea without sugar. I didn’t include a recipe for the shortbread, since there is no shortage of wonderful recipes online. I just added a dash of homemade brandy vanilla extract and a spoonful of lavender flowers.

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Pickled garlic scapes: made with young stalks of garlic plants from my garden. Thank you to Kathy from De la Bouche Specialty Foods for sharing a wonderful recipe for the pickles (recipe follows). I also acquired a jar of raspberry mango jam from her booth at a local farmer’s market; savouring it along with some cream cheese was such a delight.

Pear tart: from Sweet Thea at the local farmer’s market. Teacup roses and lamb’s ear create welcoming bouquets for my household. Beef filet mignon with a salsa verde appetizer was a great hit at my casual garden dinner (recipe follows)!

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Gulf prawns: thank you my dear friends for bringing such a treat and even cooking for us:) (recipe follows)

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This year, I’m trying to not waste all that abundant mint in my garden. Besides some mint tea, having mojitos to share is always a plus!

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A local farmer’s market visit: creative and hardworking people, Jocelyn and Chris from The Farm for Life.

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Sometimes I fail a whole roll of film due to an inaccurate metering, an inadequately slow shutter speed (due to a limited film speed) etc., but in this case I salvaged the last frame of this photo of our dog; it made me smile.

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I planted this rose a few years ago. I fell in love with it at once, especially thanks to the name, which means something along the lines of “memory of perfume” in French. It’s never a good idea to leave a tag on a rose bush. I can’t get to it since it’s painfully thorny.

We truly enjoyed this beautiful bottle of rosé from Okanagan. Stuffed pork tenderloin with caramelized onion and balsamic sauce (recipe follows). Ah, another plant I want to take full advantage of; sea of lavender on a pathway.

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We need sun to ripen and sweeten these berries!

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Pickled Garlic Scapes (by Kathy from De la Bouche Specialty Foods)

 

I have never weighed the scapes, but it takes a lot to fill 2 jars.

Makes about 2 x 1L jars

3 tablespoons pickling or coarse salt

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups water

A lot of scapes to fill the jars

1 to 2 stems lemongrass, roughly chopped

A few piece of Thai bird chili

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine salt, vinegar and water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the salt. Leave on the stove to keep hot.

Place the lemon grass and chili in the bottom of each jar, and add the scapes that are cut lengthwise at least 1/2 inch from the top of the jar. Cold pack them into hot sterilized jars tightly. Make sure your lids are hot. Pour brine over the scapes to within 1/2 inch of the top of the jar. Put lids on, fingertip-tight. Place in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes at full boil. Then, remove lid of the canner, turn off the burner and let the jars sit in the water for another 5 minutes before removing. Let cool, and store.

 

Beef Filet Mignon with Salsa Verde

This amazingly refreshing treat contains tons of garden herbs, yet melts on your tongue. Try to source the best quality meat from a reputable butcher for safe consumption.

Serves 4

2 pieces beef filet mignon

½ cup extra virgin olive oil and extra for searing

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped

4 scallion stems, finely sliced

¼ cup mint, finely chopped

2 tablespoons salted capers, roughly chopped

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 ¾ teaspoons coarse salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons butter

Place the oil, lemon juice, parsley, scallions, mint, capers and lemon zest in a medium sized bowl and stir to combine.

Add ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper to the herb mixture; stir and set aside.

Place the beef in a flat glass tray or container, and rub the remaining salt, pepper and garlic all over the beef. Pour in half of the herb mixture and marinate all sides evenly. Cover and let sit for a couple of hours (up to 1 day) in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Warm up a skillet over high heat with butter and olive oil. When the pan is smoky hot, sear each side of the beef until nicely browned, for about 2 minutes on each side.

Place in the oven for 5 minutes for medium rare doneness.

Remove from the oven, transfer to a cutting board and cover with a piece of tin foil for about 5 minutes.

Slice the beef, transfer to a serving plate and drizzle the rest of the herb mixture over top. Serve immediately.

 

Gulf Prawns

Serves 4

A dozen or more Gulf prawns, rinsed and patted dry

½ onion, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pinch of brown sugar

Pinch of salt

Freshly ground pepper

A dash of dry white wine

A sprig of Italian parsley

Warm the butter and oil in a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Sauté the onion until caramelized.

Add the mushrooms and continue to cook until soft. Add the sugar, wine and prawns and cook until prawns change colour. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Add the parsley and serve immediately.

 

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Onions and Balsamic Sauce

Serves 6

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 pieces of pork tenderloin

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

6 mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk the mustard, maple syrup, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside.

Place the pork in a flat glass tray or container, and rub with a pinch of salt and pepper. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of the balsamic sauce all over the meat, cover and marinate in the refrigerator.

In the meantime, sauté the onion with the butter and oil over medium high heat until caramelized. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms are soft.

Add the rest of the balsamic sauce and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat the oven to 390F.

Take the pork from the refrigerator. Make a slit on each piece, and stuff the onion mixture inside, leaving ¼ inch borders. Using toothpicks, close the slits as tightly as possible.

Roast in a roasting pan for 20 to 23 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover with a piece of tin foil. Rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, collect the liquid from the roasting pan in a small saucepan. Reduce until thickened over medium heat.

Slice the pork and transfer to a platter. Pour the sauce over top and serve immediately.

 

Quinoa and Poached Egg Salad

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One of things that I make sure that I keep well stocked in my pantry is quinoa: red and white to be precise. On lazy weekend mornings, I often fail to plan to have a good loaf of bread available. So, with a well-stocked pantry, I can come up with something else good and hearty; best of all, it’s healthier!

With a few steps into the garden, I created this always perfect, cozy breakfast. Oh, I’m so in awe of these little arugula and spinach leaves that have been doing so much on our plates everyday. Now that they are about to end their season, this dish became a great homage to these little but powerful garden gems. I also used baby beets that had to be thinned. Can’t wait for summer vegetables to come!

If you thought from the photos that we were having a gorgeous sunny morning, ha, I managed to trick you with the artificial light. It was actually so extremely dark and crazily pouring rain outside that I had to turn the fireplace on, LOL!

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Quinoa and Poached Egg Salad

I used what’s growing in my garden, but any salad leaves should work. Feel free to experiment with it. As for the cheese, I had only the goat variety, but would’ve loved to use something stronger, like good quality cheddar. For best results, make sure you toast the sunflower seeds. Don’t skimp on this step because it completes this dish nicely. If you don’t know how to poach eggs, I found a dedicated article here.

Serves 3 to 4

1 cup quinoa (red, white or a mixture of both, like I did in this recipe)

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons butter

Lots of mushrooms, sliced

2 scallions, roughly chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 cup mixture of baby spinach, beets and arugula leaves, rinsed and drained well

2/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled

2/3 cup or more sunflower seeds, lightly toasted

Poached eggs; use desired amount

Rinse the quinoa under running water while rubbing it together in a sieve.

Place the quinoa in a small saucepan or pot with the stock and salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer until the stock is no longer visible, for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, sauté the mushrooms and scallions with the butter in a small pan over medium high heat until softened. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Combine the quinoa and the mushroom mixture in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Poach eggs and set aside. When eggs are ready, add the salad leaves, goat cheese and sunflower seeds to the quinoa mixture and stir to combine. In this way, baby greens will wilt nicely but not overly.

Serve the quinoa in individual bowls and top with the poached eggs. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

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MEAT & BREAD

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Since there is not much excitement in my garden right now (besides that which I get from snipping arugula and spinach leaves and admiring flowers on potato plants…), I thought I would share my first experience at MEAT & BREAD in Gastown, Vancouver.

As I’ve always seen long lines plus a huge crowd of people inside and out in front of the restaurant, I was worried that we might not get seats when we arrived around lunch time. Thankfully, it turned out that just before 2 pm was no so bad.

The place was so photogenic that I couldn’t stop myself from quickly snapping a few shots. The photographs shown here are only the tip of the iceberg, and I cannot wait to go back with a faster roll of film, especially to capture interesting props in the backside of the space and of course, to try their other sandwich varieties!

My porchetta sandwich, and what seemed a bowl of wheat bulgur (correct me if I’m wrong) salad, were absolutely delightful. The salad reminded me of the dish I used to make with couscous in the heat of summer days. So here I did my best to simulate the delectable salad I enjoyed at this restaurant. Hope you can visit this cool place on your next trip to Vancouver!

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Oat Groats and Radish Salad

I substituted wheat bulgur (I think) for oat groats, since this was the only close thing that I could find from my local organic store. In return, the salad got a chewier texture that I really enjoyed! Make sure you have extra, because it is so tasty the next day.

Serves 4 to 5

1 cup oat groats

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock, or water

¼ teaspoon sea salt

½ red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup cucumber, cut into ½ inch cubes

2 tomatoes cut into ½ inch cubes

1 bunch radishes, leaves removed and sliced

A few leaves of parsley, finely chopped

Lemon juice from ½ lemon or to taste

A few swirls of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Rinse the groats. Bring the groats, stock and salt to a boil. Cover, turn the heat down and simmer for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes.

Rinse the groats under cold water and drain well. Place in a large mixing bowl along with onion, cucumber, tomatoes, radish, and parsley.

Add the lemon juice and oil, and adjust with salt and pepper. Mix well and let stand for 20 minutes in a refrigerator or until serving time.