Today was a lazy Sunday yet I did manage to make a small batch of peach and lavender jam. I picked some of the lavender flowers that had dried on their stems in the garden before the rain started. I peeled, pitted and chopped some peaches that I picked up at the Farmer’s Market yesterday. I added some sugar and lemon juice and simmered for hours (since I am not a fan of using pectin). I steamed up the windows and filled the house with the scent of summer.
Recipe to follow in a day or two.
xo J
After a few days in the city to teach a class (with a really lovely group of women) and restock my food supply we are back on the island for this last week of summer vacation before Max will head off for school.
I can’t believe we are already into these last fleeting days of summer and feel very lucky to be spending them up here in the little blue cabin, surrounded by trees, and the ocean, freckle faced kids with very, very dirty feet and the smell of ripening blackberries everywhere.
It will be a quiet week, with no visitors planned, just me and Max spending our days taking walks, reading books, swimming, maybe even taking out the kayak for a paddle if the weather holds. Glen will arrive on Friday night with all the other weekend folks and the island will swell with people and parties and laughter and swimming until dark on the last long weekend of this summer.
I will be cooking simple things for Max and me this week. Salmon, corn, tomatoes with basil and lots of peaches and blackberries. Foods that beg to be eaten at this time of year, the things that I long for on cold November days.
There will also be blueberries. The blueberries arrived late this year and so there are still plenty kicking around at the Farmer’s Market and the grocery store. I have been eating beautiful, plump, local blueberries a lot this summer and freezing them too for my smoothies in the dead of winter.
I have been adding them to my yogurt in the morning and tossing handfuls into salad, and have been making blueberry sorbet with a lavender syrup. But my very favourite way of using them this season has been this ultra simple crumble that you see above.
This has been my go to dessert recipe all summer. I made it for simple dinners at home, and for Glen’s birthday lunch that we hosted for some family and friends in the garden and for my sister when she came for a visit. I made it for my mother-in-law Anneliese who came to visit at the cabin and I am sure that there are a few more of these crumbles in my future before the blueberries are gone for another year.
I love crumbles in general. Rhubarb with cardamom and hazelnuts in spring, apple or pear in fall, cranberry with ginger in the winter. Peach and blackberry in late summer.
This blueberry version is particularly great with its very short ingredient list that still yields a crunchy, buttery topping and bubbling fruit base that has been tossed with sugar but also a bit of tart lemon juice to temper the sweetness. This recipe is an absolute breeze to make, taking all of fifteen minutes to put together and then about 30 minutes in the oven. Top it with a dollop of ice cream or better yet with some whipping cream that has been steeped and scented with some lavender flowers and sweetened with a bit of sugar.
Best made in late summer. Best served to people that you love.
Recipe adapted from The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food by Ian Knauer via Leite’s Culinairia
For the lavender cream:
1 cup of 35 % cream
1 tablespoon dried or fresh lavender flowers
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the filling:
1 lb (454 g) fresh, ripe blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Zest of 1 small unsprayed lemon
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice depending on how sweet the blueberries are
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
For the topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 stick (1/4 lb/113 g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened slightly, plus a little more for the pie dish
In a sauce pan over medium heat bring the cream and the sugar to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the lavender. Cover and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled about 2 hours. Whip until soft peaks form and return to the refrigerator until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 C) and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Generously butter a 9 inch (23 cm) pie plate.
In a medium bowl toss the blueberries with the sugar, flour, lemon zest and juice, salt adjusting the amount of lemon juice to the sweetness or tartness of the berries. Transfer the berry mixture to the prepared pie plate and set aside.
In a separate medium bowl combine the flour, oats, brown sugar and the sea salt. Drizzle in the vanilla and store until well combined. Using your fingertips mix in the cubes of butter until well combined and the mixture resembles large crumb pieces. Crumble this topping over the berries ensuring that it is evenly distributed.
Bake the crumble in the preheated oven until the filling in bubbling and the toppomg is golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let the crumble cool for a few minutes and then spoon the crumble onto serving plates and top with a dollop of lavender cream. Serve at once.
Serves 8.
Back with a recipe at last. This one is perfect for these last, long, lazy days of summer with all the amazing tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market and the profusion of mint that is growing in the garden.
When I was first intending to post this recipe (some weeks ago while up at our cabin) I was talking about it to my friend Cathy. I was enthusing on how great this Greek salad on grilled bread was especially with the addition of the mint. I could see Cathy’s eyebrow raise skyward. “Mint, in a Greek salad?” she asked.
She looked even more concerned when I mentioned the marinated radishes. From the look on her face I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I often use pitted Niçoise olives instead of Kalamatas as that is what I tend to have in the fridge.
Little did I know that Cathy is Greek and that making a Greek salad in her family is done by following a somewhat firm set of rules. Making an authentic Greek salad is part of a well loved family culinary tradition and it goes something like this:
Rule number 1: All ingredients must be at room temperature.
Rule number 2: No green peppers shall be included.
Rule number 3: The only herb that belongs in a Greek salad is oregano and it should be dried and not fresh.
Rule number 4: Remember to salt generously.
Rule number 5: Use lots and lots of olive oil.
Rule number 6: Use Macedonian feta from The Parthenon Market on Broadway.
Rule number 7: Kalamata olives are fine but should be served in a separate dish.
Luckily I do use Macedonian feta that I get at La Grotta del Formaggio just down the street. I love the creamy texture and rich flavour of this cheese. I also banish green peppers from my salad and I always have my tomatoes at room temperature as refrigeration turns tomatoes to mealy mush (fruit flies be damned). Okay, so there are a few common practises in our salads. Still, out of deference to my sweet friend, I have decided to forgo my original recipe title of “Greek salad on grilled bread” and use instead “Mediterranean salad on grilled bread”. I think it would makes Cathy’s Dad heave a heavy sigh of relief.
I know that Cathy makes a great Greek salad (she made one a couple of weeks ago when we had dinner) but she is still interested in giving my version a whirl. I’m pretty sure she will like it with the grilled bread and the freshness of the mint and the tang of the radishes, which are so easy to love. I don’t know if she will embrace the Niçoise olives so I am off to the store to ensure that I get some Kalamatas instead. I’m hoping to make this for here when I see her next week. Full report to follow…
Mediterranean Salad with Mint and Marinated Radishes on Grilled bread
Recipe adapted from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop
The bread can be grilled on a bbq or a stovetop grill pan or even in a pinch in the toaster.
For the radishes:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves
1 medium garlic clove, minced
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
18 radishes, very thinly sliced
Fine grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the grilled bread:
8 small slices of country bread, cut 1 inch thick
Extra virgin olive oil
Fine grain sea salt
For the salad:
6 cups packed greens (I used arugula)
2/3 lb (302 g) cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lb (454 g) mixed, ripe tomatoes (heirloom tomatoes like green Zebras, yellow Valencias, black Brandywines) cores removed and roughly chopped
18 Kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
15 fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
7 ounces (198 g) feta cheese (preferably Macedonian), crumbled
Whisk the vinegar, lemon juice, organo and garlic together in a medium bowl. Season well with salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to form an emulsified dressing. Add the radishes and toss to coat. Allow the radishes to marinate, turning occasionally for 20 minutes or so while you prepare the other ingredients.
Heat your grill pan or light a bbq. Lightly brush both sides of the bread with oil and a sprinkling of salt. Place on the hot grill for one to 2 minutes per side until the bread is streaked with grill marks.
In a large bowl placed the salad greens, tomatoes, olives and mint. Add the radishes with the dressing and toss until all of the ingredients are evenly coated. Top with the feta and gently toss to distribute evenly.
Place 2 toasts on each plate and then evenly divide the salad on top. Serve at once.
Serves 4.
Well, I think it is official. I have turned into a terrible blogger. I’ve become the type of blogger who never actually blogs.
It is not that I haven’t been cooking and/or photographing. It is just that since we got home from our travels I have been happily caught up in the magic of summer. Some trips to the cabin (where I dutifully bring my computer, ready to write a post and then never do), some dinners with good friends, a cocktail party or two, plenty of celebrating of birthdays and even a few culinary tours and cooking classes.
I’ve been going to the Trout Lake farmer’s market picking up some amazing fruits and vegetables and breads and cheeses. I’ve been baking herb flatbread and making jam and churning lots of fruit sorbets and chocolate gelato. I’ve got a great farmer’s market inspired recipe for a Mediterranean salad on grilled bread with pickled radishes and mint that I promise to share in the next few days.
Until then I will leave you with a photo that I took this morning of the very first figs that I harvested from a Italian white fig tree that I planted two years ago in our back garden. Splitting open the soft green fig, revealing the crimson flesh inside and tasting the juicy sweetness was such a perfect summer food moment that I wanted to share it here.
xo J
It has been a month since we arrived home from our French adventure and we are now fully settled back into our comfortable Vancouver routine.
It seems like such a long time ago since we unpacked the suitcases and put them away. We are left with a small stash of French chocolate and a vast array of wonderful memories. I always find that the true gift of travelling doesn’t always fully reveal itself until the trip is over and real life resumes.
I have been thinking about the first two weeks I spent in Paris with my sweet Mom. Our quiet mornings at the flat, exploring pastry and chocolate shops, discovering new restaurants and not going to even a single museum. By the time the rest of the family arrived we were both ready for a different pace and happily embraced the travelling and biking and sightseeing and celebrating, feeling very lucky that all seven of us could be together in such an amazing city. It almost felt like two separate trips. And luckily in the middle of it all I was still able to find the time for a few solo adventures as well.
One of the highlights of my “alone” time in Paris was signing up for a market tour and cooking class, a wonderful way to explore the culinary scene of a new city. When I was doing my research on French food tours while still in Vancouver I was excited to discover that one of my favourite cookbook authors, Susan Herrmann Loomis, happened to be offering one day classes in Paris during the time of my stay!
Susan just happens to be an award winning author of 9 cookbooks and also teaches cooking workshops in her home, On Rue Tatin in Louviers, Normandy. She also teaches some classes in Paris, and this year in South Dakota, North Carolina and Texas too. You can check out her website for her full class schedule here.
I happen to own three of Susan’s books and was excited to meet this woman whose recipes I have cooked on so many occasions and whose writing style I admire so much. I was perhaps a bit nervous too. Just because someone can write a good book doesn’t mean that they can teach. There are so many styles of cooking and so many methods of teaching. I have attended classes with instructors who only want to talk about molecular gastronomy or “new fusion” or what it was like when they used to cook for rock stars. And while I am as interested as the next person in what Jon Bon Jovi eats for breakfast I also love to learn a new recipe or technique or get a sense of the culture of a new place through food.
In the end I needn’t have worried. As soon as I met Susan outside the Raspail market and we started talking I could tell that this was a woman who loved food and cooking and the art of gathering people around the table. She was warm and funny and knowledgeable and could tell a good story. She cared about ingredients and the seasons and how far things sometimes travel to get to our table yet she wasn’t slavish about the rules or politics of food. The other person who had signed up for the day was a really lovely woman from California named Cathy. She had come to Paris to celebrate a milestone birthday and was passionate about food and cooking as well. Cathy also has a blog and wrote about our day which you can read all about here.
The three of us spent about an hour at the market travelling from stall to stall picking up some bread and vegetables, checking out the cheeses and the poultry, meat and fish, chatting with the vendors.
After the shopping we walked back to the beautiful cooking studio in the heart of Saint Germain des Prés, tied on our aprons and started to cook. Susan had designed a four course lunch menu and guided us through the preparation. We peeled and chopped and sliced and stirred, talked about technique and knife skills, tasted different salts, and we even saved a sauce (or two). We nibbled on radishes smeared with demi-sel butter and the bread that we had purchased at the market and sipped lovely local wine.
It seemed to take no time until we were ready to sit down and enjoy the lunch that we had created. We started with a cucumber and fromage frais verrine that was refreshing and light and looked beautiful layered in the tiny glass dishes. We opened the red wine and moved on to a duck breast that was perfectly cooked and napped with orange syrup and served alongside some herb braised asparagus. We poured some more wine and enjoyed a crisp green salad with an almond vinaigrette that was served with a duo of sheep’s milk cheeses. Then we were on to dessert. Strawberries in a caramel vinegar that were served in pretty white bowls and garnished with a few grinds of black pepper and a sprig of mint.
I was particularly struck by these strawberries as they seemed to perfectly epitomize all that was good about the menu and our meal and the day itself. There was a complexity in terms of the flavour but the technique itself was straightforward. They were not fussy or heavy but thoughtful, perfectly timed and presented. The sweetness of the berries had a tart hint of acidity from the vinegar and a spicy hit from the pepper. Simple, yet perfect and a recipe that will remain in my cooking repertoire for many years to come.
After saying my goodbyes and exchanging hugs and email addresses I walked to the metro and thought about what had made the class so special for me. It had certainly been about the food and cooking and the people but also about how to prepare a thoughtful meal and bring people around the table in a relaxed yet gracious and generous way. I was struck by the fact that the afternoon was never about Susan trying to impress us. At many of the classes I have been to it is all about fancy, expensive ingredients or techniques that require utensils only found in a restaurant kitchen to replicate. Instead of trying to show off her culinary prowess Susan was simply there to share her time, her knowledge and a meal.
My Mom is already planning next year’s trip to Paris. Who knows, maybe there will be some time for me to go off and have another solitary culinary adventure, taking a cooking class or two in Normandy. I happen to know of a very good teacher there and bringing home a new recipe that can be shared is perhaps the very best souvenir.
Strawberries in Caramel Vinegar
Recipe is reprinted with permission from Susan Herrmann Loomis
These strawberries would be wonderful served with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of mascarpone cream or alongside a vanilla panna cotta. But then again they are pretty much perfect just like this.
The only change that I made from the original recipe is to combine the water and the sugar and then make the carmel. When adding the vinegar into the hot caramel stir gently until it is well incorporated and you can put it back over a very low heat to accomplish this if necessary.
6 tablespoons (90 g) sugar, vanilla sugar if you have it
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 pound (454 g) strawberries, trimmed and thickly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
Sprigs of mint for garnish
Place the sugar and the water in a small, heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk until well combined and place over medium-high heat. Cook until the caramel begins to turn a dark golden, shaking the pan to ensure that the sugar caramelizes evenly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a minute or so and then add in the vinegar, gently stirring.
If you are having trouble getting the vinegar to incorporate into the caramel return it to a low heat and stir gently.
Once the caramel is cooled transfer to a non-reactive bowl. Add the strawberries, stir gently and allow to marinate for at least an hour and up to three.
To serve, use a slotted spoon and evenly distribute the strawberries into six serving bowls. Strain the marinade and pour over the strawberries. Garnish with a grind or two of fresh black pepper and a sprig of mint.
Serves 6.
Lots has happened over the last few days. Glen and I enjoyed the rest of our trip biking through Uzes, Arles and Saint Remy. We managed to elude the rain and got through our journey without a single flat tire. We saw the most beautiful deep blue skies streaked with clouds, small walled graveyards surrounded by fields of grapes and wheat and sunflowers. We explored some lovely churches and saw some very sweet-faced dogs. We ate at tiny restaurants in tiny towns where the food was amazing and the glasses of rosé cost us one euro.
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We followed a rainbow on our way home on the train and it was great to get back to Paris to see the family. The last two days we have spent running around doing all of the things on our “to do” lists.
We stopped back in to buy a few more chocolate treats from A L’Etoile d’Or, and then spent an afternoon at the Louvre trying to get close to the Mona Lisa.
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We locked our family’s love on the Pont des Artes bridge and then celebrated with falafels at L’as Du Fallafel in the Marais.
We celebrated my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary with a dinner out at one of our favourite restaurants in the neighbourhood. We listened to the well loved stories about how they met and toasted to many more years of happiness together.
Today we took Max up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and then picked up some shirts for Glen at the Muji store before picking up supplies for a picnic in the Luxembourg Gardens.
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Then we walked and walked and walked. Tomorrow we are up at dawn to finish our packing and head for airport for our early morning flight home.
What an incredibly sweet 33 days…
Thursday afternoon
Sadly, the other day when we were at Versailles, I dropped my beloved Nikon camera and broke it. But with every cloud there is the silver lining. I only pouted for a few minutes and realized that for the remaining 7 days of the trip I would be travelling light and using my iPhone only. I am embracing it.
Above and below are some (iPhone) pictures of our day in Paris with my sister and Paolo and Max before Glen and I took the train to Provence where we are doing a 4 day cycling trip.
Thursday evening
Tonight we are in the small town of Uzés after cycling from Avignon. Along the way we saw some really amazing landscapes. Vineyards and olive tree groves and small towns with beautiful churches. Glen is already asleep beside me and I will soon be joining him. We cycled many, many kilometres today but our bikes held up and the weather was perfect. Here are a few photos from the last couple of days. Next stop Arles!
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