Sustainable Seafood

I received this note in my comment box in response to the yummy crab entry last summer. We need to do our part in helping maintain a sustainable seafood industry.

Hello, I am the fisherman that supplies Andrew's (Evening Cove) crabs.
I am a small footprint local harvester and marketer. More and more of us are realizing for seemingly obvious reasons that this is the trend for primary food production. I harvest within 30 km and sell from Nanaimo to Campbell River. Well, DFO without any science, policy or vision is threatening to basically eliminate commercial crabbing from Victoria to Campbell River from March 15- Sept. 15. This is the viable portion of the year; the crab are abundant, the local market is in full swing and the weather is safe for the small boats that can do this viably without a lot of fuel.
I am looking for public support for sustainable seafood harvesting in our communities before it is all gone and we look back at how stupid we were. I have my dock customers and Thriftys Foods as well as the David Suzuki Foundation any many others coming onboard to help. If you like to help me encourage DFO to support responsible seafood harvesting please call Kim at:
(250)618-0128.
Cheers!

Eric Praline would be horrified

Don’t tell Mr. Praline but I think I ate one of his pets for dinner. On my way home, I picked up a whole halibut from the store. From the pile of halibut, intuitively picked the one that was the least flat. I couldn’t tell for sure if it was Eric the Halibut since it had been decapitated.
I hope he won't be too upset. I have a quarter of a slug (such a tragic lawnmower incident) for him if it will make him feel better ;P

I love that Monty Python skit. I actually started humming “Eric Half a Bee” when I saw the halibut in the cooler. For all those that have no idea what I’m talking about or think that I’m looney, just watch Monty Python’s ‘Fish Licence’ episode. It’s my favorite Eric Praline episode. Yes, I like it more than the ‘Dead Parrot’ episode.

Fresh Pacific halibut is one of the many yummy signs that Spring is here. Like other fish, I only buy halibut whole, thanks to my Chinese upbringing. Fortunately for me, the halibut they bring into the store are a bit on the measly side, a mere 10-12 lbs compared to the honking 400 pounders that can be found out there.

Buying fish whole also is cheaper in the long run. The initial cost of buying that much halibut can be a wallet bender but it does work out to huge savings for a fish like halibut. Look for flesh that is firm and skin that is relatively unscarred and intact. If the head is still on, check to see that it’s squished together eyes are clear. I have the fishmonger cut it into steaks for me and squirrel away what I don’t need right away into the freezer.

I didn’t get to making dinner until 9pm. I don’t know what happened. Someone must have taken time and put it into the washer and dryer and shrank it. Between getting ready for tomorrow’s Fiber Swap and Sale, chasing away an looming work deadline, dealing with the riff raff, and looking for my favorite pair of socks it got late. I didn’t realize how late until DH started giving me hungry puppy dogs looks and started whimpering for food.

Luckily fish cooks up fast and within 15 minutes I had dinner on the table:

In another 15 minutes, this is what was left of dinner:

LOL! I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating :)

Halibut is best prepared simply, IMHO. No fancy sauces, no shmancy preparations. Nothing more than salt & pepper and a sprinkle of seafood rub (if you want) onto the halibut before pan-frying it , 4 minutes per side. Along with some organic barley and garlicky kale from the garden it was a tasty end to the day.

As mentioned, I’m going to be held at the Nanaimo Fiber Swap and Sale on Saturday. It’s being at St. Paul’s Church in downtown Nanaimo from 10am to 2pm. Drop by the 100 Mile Diet and Fiber table and say ‘hello’.

Also, tomorrow is Shutdown Day.

So shutdown your computers and go out and enjoy spring's arrival.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jen

Nanaimo's 100 Mile Diet Challenge

100 Mile Fiber Fest

Gone to Seed

Seedy Saturdays and Sundays have been blooming all over Canada. In fact, it seems that every town and city here on the Island has it’s own. Nanaimo’s Seedy Sunday is coming up on March 4^th , pretty much one of the last Seedy events for the island. Just in case you can’t make it to any of these, here are some local seed companies that offer online sales. Some of these are local seed growers and they all offer organic, heirloom/heritage seeds and varieties that you won’t be able to find in your retail outlets.

Saltspring Seeds : They have an amazing variety of heirloom tomatoes and other heirloom or heritage vegetables. They also carry a huge range of beans, soy beans, medicinal herbs and grains.

West Coast Seeds: They offer an extensive list of vegetables and flowers. This company is based in Delta, BC.

Garden Path Nursery: This Victoria organic nursery is dedicated to teaching self-reliance and sustain able living. They carry the ‘Seeds of Victoria’ line of organic seeds. Their 2007 catalogue includes a huge variety of vegetables, flowers and herbs. They also put out a great book on organic gardening called “A Year on the Garden Path”

Happy Valley Lavender and Herb farm is just outside of Victoria. This farm carries a wide array of lavender products made with lavender grown right there on the wonderful smelling farm. They offer a range of lavender seeds and are a great resource for the lavender lover.

For more information about organic seeds and supporting seed diversity, check out the Organic Seed Alliance website.

This weekend is the Maple Sugar Festival here in Nanaimo. Between mouthfuls of poutine and sweet treats like maple toffee, go visit the Jam Lady at Golden Maples Farm, Flavors of the West Coast and the Shady Brook Farm table at the Commercial Tent. There you’ll find locally grown products.

Last night, I had some friends over a knitting session and to watch CSI. It was also another chapter in my month long Chinese New Year feast. Instead of the typical 10-course chinese feast, I opted to do several smaller, more intimate chinese meals.

For dinner, I whipped up a local halibut and Chinese greens in a lime black bean sauce with pan-fried noodles. I love Chinese black bean sauce and it’s deep, savory flavor plays well with the acidic tang of citrus, especially in chicken and seafood dishes. It was nothing more than a basic stir fry. I offered wedges of lime on the side so folks could add as much lime juice as they wanted. This way also keeps the lime flavor sharp and fresh.

Of course, we ended off the meal with my homemade egg tarts.

OMG, they were so good. I definitely am going to make these more often. I'm already scheming up different variations like pumpkin, chai infused and maybe even a caramel and creme brule version.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Jen

Nanaimo’s 100 Mile Diet challenge

Rice Hockey

To celebrate my Chinglishness, I have brought together a Canadian sports institution, hockey, with a Chinese culinary institution, rice, to create a homage to my Chinese-Canadian heritage. I made rice pucks for dinner. That’s risotto cakes for you fancy-schmancy culinary types :p

I used the risotto leftover from Tuesday night's butternut squash risotto. Leftover risotto is alright but the creaminess that defines it has degrades into ho-hum starchiness overnight . Simply nuking the stuff would leave you with splodgy rice pablum. The flavor would still be there but your teeth would get bored of having nothing to do.

Luckily, leftover risotto holds together great and adheres to stuff like panko flakes and cornmeal really well, making it a great candidate for pan-fried pucks of goodness. In fact, I try to make enough risotto for leftovers so I can make these delectable treats. You need leftover risotto, freshly made risotto is still too runny and anyways, the point of this recipe is to use up leftovers.

Here’s my Fast & Dirty Rice Puck recipe:

Cold leftover risotto

Dredging stuff – eg. Flour, cornmeal, breadcrumbs, panko flakes

Seasoning – dried herbs, spices, salt and pepper

Oil for pan frying

1- Scoop out about 1/3 cup (eyeball it) of risotto and shape into a 3/4 inch thick pucks. Wet hands makes this much easier to do. Set aside in a single layer on a plate. Repeat until all the risotto is shaped. You could make them smaller bite size pucks. Don't make them much bigger than 1/2 cup portions . It'll break apart when you try to flip them over.

2- For the dredging, mix together your dredging choice with your seasoning choice. For 8 risotto cakes, I used about ¼ cup of cornmeal with a 1/4 teaspoon of spice mix. Dredge the cakes right before cooking or else the dredging mix will get too soggy.

3- With dry hands, coat both sides of the rice pucks with the dredging mix.

4- Heat up a couple teaspoons of veggie oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Once hot, arrange rice pucks in a single layer into the pan. Do not crowd the pan. Allow for room between the pucks. If needed, do this in 2 batches.

5- Pan fry for 3-4 minutes on each side or until you get nice golden crust.

6- Transfer done rice pucks with a slotted spatula onto a paper towel lined plate. Keep warm in a 200F oven until ready to serve.

I used a seafood spice mix that my SIL gave us for Christmas. It’s a great mix of Cajun spice with a touch of curry. We also used the spice mix on some local prawns that accompanied our meal. Nothing more than just tossing a spoonful of spice mix with some prawns and sautéing over medium high heat for a few minutes. In fact, I cooked it up in the same pan right after I cooked up the rice pucks, making this a one pan meal done in less than 15 minutes. Some fresh local mixed salad finished off our meal.

The golden crusty exterior was a perfect casing for the soft guts of this rice puck. DH couldn’t stop raving about them. He thinks I’m a culinary genius. I think that maybe we should keep the fact that it took me rubbing 2 brain cells together and 10 minutes to make our little secret. OK?

For dessert, I made dan taht, or egg tarts. Instead of using a flaky pastry dough, I used up the pie dough I had leftover from the sausage rolls I made earlier in the week. I rolled it out ¼ inch thin, cut out 4 inch rounds to line a medium sized muffin pan. I made a basic custard with local free range egg, local milk, sugar, flour and a few drops of vanilla extract. I poured the custard into the the pie crust shells and baked in a preheated 475F oven for 8 minutes. After that I turned the oven to broil for 2 minutes so the tops get all brown and caramelized. If you want, you can sprinkle a little sugar on top of the custard before broiling and get a crème brulee sort of effect. Or you could skip the broiling step altogether.

Custards are easy to make after a few initial burnt and/or curdled attempts. The key is to have everything on hand right beside the stove and be patient. Keep the heat low as you stir and wait for it to thicken. It will thicken eventually. Deny the urge to crank up the heat, you will be punished with a scorched pot and curdled custard.

I managed to squirrel a few egg tarts away for dinner tonight. We’re having some friends over for another small Chinese New Year dinner and a felting workshop. Not sure what I’m going to make for dinner but at least I have dessert covered.

Happy Eating!

Jen

Nanaimo’s 100 Mile Diet Challenge

Midweek Crumbs

Firstly, a few midweek tidbits to pass on:

-A reminder for all you green thumbs who can’t wait to start on this year’s backyard bounty, the 5th annual Qualicum Beach Seedy Saturday in Qualicum's beautiful Civic Centre on Saturday, February 3rd from 10am to 3pm. Admission by donation. -- Keith & Joy Smith, 2503 Island Highway West. Qualicum Beach, BC V9K 1G5 gwenmar@shaw.ca 250 752 8135

-Chopped and glued from my comments box for all you spinners: Distaff Day is on Saturday, February 3, in Duncan. It's a day for spinners hosted by the Tzouhalem Spinners & Weavers Guild and will be held in St. John's Church Hall (corner of First and Jubilee) from 10 til 3. Last year's event attracted 80-plus spinners from up and down the Island and from Salt Spring! Bring your wheel and something for show & tell (you've got some fabulous knitted projects). Pot luck lunch, $3 charge to help pay the rent. For more info give coordinator Barbara Dowd a call at (250) 743-4116.
Thanks Alison for passing on the info!

-From my email box: The Green Store at the Port Place Mall in downtown Nanaimo has just brought in a huge shipment of organic products. They have everything from freezer/cooler food products to beauty supplies. Many of the items have to go quick!

******

Secondly, I want to share a couple of recent local food finds. I found these at my local supermarket this week:

Yep, B.C. Kiwifruit. I don’t know where in B.C. they’re from but since almost all B.C. kiwi fruits are grown here on Vancouver Island, I’m going to assume they fall within my 100 mile diet radius. YIPPEEE!!! They’re a tad smaller than the ones that are shipped all the way from New Zealand but I got a whole big bag of them for $2.50! They’re also not as fuzzy and don’t need to be peeled. So not only do they take way less fuel to get here, there’s also less waste in the end.

In a recent trip to Piper’s Meats, I found canned smoked Vancouver Island salmon:

So good to see more local products in the stores. Piper’s Meats has always made an effort to bring in locally raised products from meats to eggs and now they’re bringing fish! Double yippee!!!

So today I’m making Chinese potstickers with locally raised pork and veggies in anticipation of Chinese New Year. It’s only fitting since it is the Year of the Pig ;)

Instead of one huge Chinese New Year feast, I’m going to host a few smaller 100 mile diet dinners through February. Chinese New Year officially begins February 18^th but I can’t wait so tonight, I’m hosting a pre-Chinese New Year dinner. We’re going to dig into some of those potstickers. I also have some locally grown gai lan (chinese broccoli) that I’m going to stir-fry up with moose sausage in a black bean sauce. Along with all that, I’m planning a 100 mile hot and sour soup with loads of local mushrooms, root veggies, local pork and chicken stock. I’ll post photos tomorrow.

For dessert, I’ve got homemade raspberry & rhubarb biscotti:

I know, they’re not very Chinese but the fruit adds a touch of festive red which is the main colour for Chinese celebrations.

Gotta get going on my one woman dumpling sweat factory. Have a great day everyone!

Happy Eating!

Jen

Feed me!

(insert lame ethnic cooking comment or Dr. Seuss rip-off here)

Most chefs, professional or in-home, love getting invited to dinner at other’s people’s homes. This is different than going out for dinner at a restaurant, which is fun but not the same.

I relish being on the receiving end of a home cooked meal. Sometimes I’m just tired of cooking for everyone else, even for myself. Really, there are times when I’d rather sit back, read, knit, go for a paddle, join a friend for a climb, hang out, goof off and then show up at the dinner table and have a home-cooked meal waiting for me. I know it’s hard to believe but really, there are such times ;)

Sometimes I get tired of my own cooking and am hungry (pardon the pun) for someone’s spin on a dish. Recipes are a great vehicle into a family’s history and a culture. I learned to make many dishes by infiltrating friend’s kitchens, along with learning a great deal about them.

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been invited to other people’s dinner table this year. Most of those times have been at my in-laws, who are great cooks.

This lack of dinner invitations is a common problem amongst kitchen savvy folks. It’s a pattern that a social circle falls into. The one kitchen compatible friend gets branded the ‘chef’ of the group and everyone just shows up at their place for dinner by default. Though a few of us are arrogant oafs, most chefs make lovely dinner guests. Just keep the wine bottle away from us ;)

I’ve been told by my culinary neophyte friends that they’re afraid to invite me over for fear of what I’d think about their cooking. They fear that I’d be dictating a scathing review in my head, silently nitpicking at their dishes, muttering to myself about how the carrots are bland and that the pasta is overcooked. I’m horrified that they would think I would behave so. Part of this inferiority complex is fed by the assumption that what I cook at home is complicated (it isn’t) and that I am privy to chef-jedi secrets (I wish). If anyone is going to appreciate a home cooked meal, it would be a chef. Who better to know what you went through to put together a meal than someone who has to do it every day?

To remedy this, I’ve been offering to teach my friends or family how to cook in hopes that they will feel confident enough to invite me over for dinner. I’ve had some great successes with my Vancouver circle with a trio of vegan ronins, the love child of Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson and a spatula-wielding knight who wooed his lady with 4-course meals. However, on the island I haven’t had much success with this plan.

This has all changed now that our dear friends Karin, Dave and the 5 furry kids have moved into Nanaimo. I’ve known Karin since our Squamish days and she’s been gleaning cooking lessons from the beginning. I spent this past weekend at their place, teaching her how to make everything from Pad Thai to sorbets to preserving. It’s finally paid off ;)

Last night, I got invited to their place for dinner. A real dinner invitation. We made plans earlier in the week and everything, as if we were grown-ups or something. DH was invited too but wasn’t feeling too social. I think his new SOCOM 4 game had more to do with his absence than any anti-social tendencies.

So off to their new home I went. I was greeted at the door by their 5 furry kids and the enticing aroma of dinner cooking. Dinner was a beautifully roasted local free-ranged chicken that they picked up from the Shady Mile market and some local veggies roasted right in the pan.

Dessert was a duo of sorbets, a coconut lime and a cranberry. The cranberries were made with a batch we picked up from Yellow Point cranberries. A simple and elegant way to end an equally simply and elegant meal. Bravo!
We even had dinner companions:











(the cat version of college kids all piling into a telephone booth)

For dinner, I picked up a bottle of Ortega wine from Zanatta vineyards in the Cowichan valley. All the grapes used for their wine are grown in their Glenora vineyard. It was a fruity and rich white wine that paired well with the chicken. I could see it going really well with a Thai green curry or the pan-fried halibut with pesto gnocchi we had last week

(Thanks Pete for the halibut. I was awesome!).

BTW, I picked up the wine at North Gate beer and wine store, across from Superstore. It’s got a great selection of local wines and ciders.

I also found Volume 2 of my favorite red wine, Bete Noire (Black Beast) by Cherry Point Vineyards. This local red is a bit rough and bloodthirsty, with a deep fruity finish. In other words, a great wine snob repellant ;) I think red wine ought to be a bit bloody and carry itself with a bit of a swagger. Anyways, how could you resist a name like Bete Noire?

Hosting a dinner party doesn’t have to be an ornate affair. You don’t have to make everything from scratch. Sometimes it’s just a matter of assembling a dinner. On the island we have a great selection of locally made cheeses. Everything water buffalo to cow milk cheeses to fill your cheese plate. Nanoose Edibles carries a great line of smoked albacore tuna and salmon for an appetizer and locally made dressings for your salad. There are prepared jams and jellies for folks to nibble with crackers. Check out Golden Maples Farm at a Christmas craft fair near you. She makes her products from fruits and veggies grown right on her own farm. She even has lemon and lime trees growing in her greenhouse!

For dessert, pick up a Grandma’s Country pie from the Nanaimo Sausage House on 3018 Ross Rd (behind the County Club mall). They have a sour cherry pie that is getting quite the following. Their blackberry pie is on the top of my list. They have a range of pies from berries to pumpkin to lemon meringue. You can contact them at Grandmascountrypies@shaw.ca and place your order. While you’re at the Nanaimo Sausage House, pick up some sausages. They make them right there on the premises and it shows. We’re fans of the hot pepperoni and their smokies are DH’s favorites and that’s saying a lot. They also carry local cheeses and free-ranged eggs.

The main course can simply be a simple soup, a roasted chicken or fish. Heck, I’ve served scrambled eggs and toast for a dinner party.

For larger dinner parties, hold it as a potluck. Better yet, host it as a 100 Mile Diet potluck and have folks bring in their favorite locally-grown dish. Before you start the meal, have everyone introduce their dish and where they got the ingredients. This is great way to share and learn who your local growers are.

Have a tasty day!

Jen

Attack of the Monster Mussels

It was only fitting to watch Ang Lee's "HULK" last night since we started the evening with a meal of monster sized food. It started out so innocently...

After a crazy afternoon, I decided to treat myself to a wander down to Departure Bay. I still have not quite accepted that it’s fall and went wandering about in a tank top and a knee-high cotton skirt. The sharp, autumn breeze sanded away any stress I had left from my day and left me smiling, though a bit chilly.

On my way back home, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some local barlett pears and then swung by the fish store, Sea Drift at Terminal Mall to see what local seabeasts I could pick up for dinner. There I found some gorgeous Saltspring Island mussels. They also have local oysters and clams in along with local fishes like salmon and halibut. I picked up a couple pounds of mussels and headed home with my edible treasures.

The mussels were huge. I mean obscenely huge. Look, they’re as big as my palm!!!

For mussels, I like to keep it simple. So I heated up a glug of oil over med-high heat, dropped in some chopped garlic, red onion and 1 small red thai chili (you can use some sambal oelek or 1/8 tsp of dried chili flakes). Then I deglazed with a half a bottle of white wine (Cherry Point Coastal White). Once that came back up to a boil, I dropped in the cleaned mussels and covered the pot with a tight lid. A few shakes and 4-5 mins later, they were done. Along with some monster-sized peas from Dirk, a local organic farmer, and some homemade bread, we had ourselves a monstrously yummy meal.

Look at the beans. They're bigger than a chopstick!!!







Here's the final meal, all put together. The monster sized ingredients were fighting for space in my huge soup bowl. The piece of bread looks so measly but it was a fair sized chunk.

Yes it's as yummy as it looks. I saved the mussels to use as mulch and as a source of calcium for the garden.

I also made a pumpkin pie. Or ‘Bum-skin’ pie as it is known in this house. Yes, we’re one of those annoying couples that butchers and bastardizes the English language to form cutesly little inside jokes.

For less than the cost of 3 cans pumpkin puree, I picked up 4 pie pumpkins that provided me with enough pumpkin pulp to make 12 pies. The pulp is also great as the base for lovely squash soup. Make sure you use the smaller pumpkins marked ‘Pie Pumpkins’. The large jack o’lantern pumpkins have too much water in the flesh to make a good pie with. They’re ok for soups though.

I chop open the pumpkins into quarters. I save the seeds for snacking (more on that later). With a spoon, scoop out the rest of the slimy guts. Cut size down, place them onto a roasting pan with enough water to cover the bottom a half an inch or so. Pop it all into a 325F oven for 30-40 minutes or until it’s soft. Once done, toss them into a large stock pot and let them rest overnight. In this process, a lot of excess water exudes out. The next day, remove the pumpkins out of the pot and save the pumpkin water to use as a liquid for pumpkin soup. With fingers and a large soup spoon, I scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. A few whirls of a hand blender and you have a huge batch of pumpkin mush.

I dump a recipe’s worth of pumpkin puree into a Ziploc baggie and store that in the freezer. Now whenever I want to make a pumpkin pie (or cookies, or ice-cream or ravioli or soup…you get the picture), I simply have to pull a ziploc baggie of pumpkin and let it defrost. A few minutes in the nukebox will do the trick if you’re impatient. Then again, if you’re impatient, you’ve probably already picked up an factory pumpkin pie and a tub of that whipped chemical jizz.

(photo of my homemade pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust. Whipped chemical jizz-free zone.)

For spicy roasted pumpkin seeds, wash the seeds and dry them as best as you can. Toss then in bowl with a glug or two of olive oil, a healthy pinch of salt and a couple pinch of hot red pepper flakes. Mix them well and dump them in a single layer onto a baking sheet and bake at 300F for 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally. I eat them with the shell on and be warned, these are addictive especially fresh out of the oven. Better to make these when the DH has already gone to bed so you don’t get him hooked and have him come home one day with a dozen pumpkins just so he can get his spicy roasted pumpkin seed fix.

Have a great day!

Jen

Nanaimo's 100 Mile Diet Challenge