Summer on a Stick

Woohoo! The article on the Nanaimo 100 Mile Diet campaign showed up in today's Nanaimo News Bulletin. Thanks Chris for writing it up and helping spread the word.

For those looking for more information about our Nanaimo 100 Mile Diet campaign, check out our website or explore this blog for information on where to buy local foods, recipe ideas and more info about the 100 Mile Diet and local farming issues.

Well, it seems that summer is taking the long way around to get to us. On Sunday, I popped down to the Cedar Farmer's Market at the Old Crow & Gate Pub to grab some veggies to see me through until I get my Nanoose Edibles produce box. ( I can't wait to get my first box for this season tomorrow). I called up some friends to make it a group outing. However, nobody answered their phones :(

However, once I arrived at the market, I ran into those same friends I had called up to join me on my farmer's market outing! We wandered about filling our bags with locally grown goodies and chatting with the vendors. It's such a friendly market and everyone is happy to share information and talk about their products. As we shopped, dark, foreboding clouds rolled in and finally the electric release of lightning and it's subsequent rumbling filled the sky. We quickly finished up our shopping and by the time I drove out of the parking lot the skies opened up.

It continued to storm all afternoon. Over and over again. Well, there went my afternoon plans for a paddle about Nanoose Bay. Instead, I spent the day at my friends' place, checking out their gorgeous garden and helping them process strawberries they had picked at Dudink's Garden before hitting the farmers' market. I though I was hard core. 16 kilograms of strawberries got washed, hulled and either throw into the freezer whole or made into sorbet or jam. That evening, we enjoyed a feast of local bounty, complete with chicken from Cedar Valley Poultry, oysters from Fanny Bay Oysters, green salad from my friends garden, bread from Flour, Water, Salt and cheese from Hilary's Cheese Shop.

I wish I had brought my camera. You're going to have to take my word. I looked and tasted fabulous ;)

Yesterday after work, friends and I popped over the Dudink's Garden to get another batch of strawberries. Again, Dudink's is at 2219 Gomerich Rd (740-0302). Talk about easy pickings!


Here's my berry bounty:
I had about 15 kilograms of strawberries to do something with. After giving them a quick rinse, which is all they really need, I took the ripest ones and turned them into sorbet and popsicles.



Yum! Summer on a stick.










2 scoops of summer, please !

I now have only a mere 12 kilograms of strawberries to contend with. I think I may do a couple more batches of sorbet, dehydrate a batch or 2, freeze some and the rest are going to be gobbled up fresh.
We're huge sorbet and popsicle fans and we consume a heck of a lot of it in this house so I've learned how to make them at home. Much cheaper and healthier than store bought ones. One thing I don't like about commercial products is the amount of added sugar and high fructose corn syrup in them. Since I'm making them from scratch, I can dictate how much or how little added sugar is in them. I can also avoid all the other weird and unpronounceable chemicals and additives in my sweet, cool treats. The best thing is that they're made with locally grown real fruit! Both the fruit sorbet and popsicles have the same basic recipe. The recipe below can be used for berries and other fruits like peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, apples, grapes, pears, melons...well, you get the idea.

Here's my basic Fast & Dirty Fruit Sorbet/Popsicles:

1 kilogram of fresh fruit - washed, seeded, hulled, peeled or whatever you need to do to it.
1/2 to 1 cup of simple syrup*
juice and zest of 1 lemon or 1 lime or both if you feel like it.
1-2 tablespoons of liquor (optional) - vodka, rum, limoncello, tequila - the booze is mostly to help keep the sorbet from freezing into a solid block. And for a bit of a kick.

*Simple Syrup is nothing more than equal amounts of water & sugar boiled until the sugar is completely dissolved. I usually do enough for a couple of batches of sorbet and keep the extra in a bottle in the fridge.



Simply blend all the ingredients together. If you want big chunks of fruit in your sorbet or popscicle then don't blend it so much. If you want a smoother texture then blend it more. See how that works? ;)

For sorbet: Pour into ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Without an ice cream maker, you can pour it into a large shallow pan/tupperware container and put it into the freezer. Every 15-20 minutes, stir the mixture and return it to the freezer. Repeat until you get a sorbet.

For popscicles - Pour into popscicle mould. I would also leave out the booze or else the mixture might not freeze solid enough.

You can also freeze the mixture in ice cube trays and use them in a daiquiri, smoothie or any other fruity blender drink. You'll have the fruit and the ice cube in one. This way you'll get a more intense fruity flavour instead of a watered down concoction.
Make sure you use ripe, flavorful fruit. This will involve you having to actually sacrifice a few piece of fruit for a tasting ;)
The amount of simple syrup is dependent on your own tastes. Be careful not to add too much or else you'll lose the intrinstic fruity sweetest and flavour of your fruit.
Now, you could omit the simply syrup completely if your fruit is sweet enough on its own or replace it with unsweetened apple juice, honey or some other sweetener.
Don't be tied down to this recipe. Experiment! Try it with some fresh mint, a mixture of fruit, throw in some local wine or local apple juice for a PG version. Keep in mind that the flavours will be a bit muted by the cold temperature of these treats. If they're not sweet enough or too chunky or too sweet, simply melt down the mixture and add whatever needs to be added and refreeze! It's that easy peasy.

Also, I like to store a few ziploc freezer baggies of strawberry mush in the freezer for last minute dessert sauces or to be used later in a mixed fruit jam. Blended up berries take up much less room than whole strawberries and I'm working with limited freezer real estate.

After getting a backseat full of strawberries, we headed out to Hazelwood Herb Farms. My basil plants have not been liking this cooler weather and I wanted to pick up a few more. Here's what I ended up bringing home:
That place is dangerous for a belly-driven gardener like me. I ended up with a few more mints, some Egyptian onions, a rose bergamot, lemon verbana, oregano, chinese licorce, bay leaf plant, more parsly and cilantro. Oh yeah and a couple of basil plants.

Many of these are fine in containers and are a great garden plants for those that are just beginning to garden or lack space for a large garden. There's nothing better than fresh herbs to liven up a dish. It's just absurd to buy herbs that are wrapped in packaging that weighs more and takes more energy to make than the herbs itself. Don't get me started on all the food miles involved in bringing a sprig of parsley up from Mexico.

To end off today's blog I just wanted to share some lovely surprises I found in my garden:
My bathroom sink garden is blooming!








I see pea pods! I know what we're having for dinner.


Thanks for visiting! For more information about the 100 Mile Diet, check out Nanaimo's 100 Mile Diet website.

Take care,

Jen

One book, two visitors and a sock

Here's what I'm reading. It's a collection of essays about the present state of food. Not only does it explore the problems and issues but also present some very realistic solutions or at least directions towards a viable solution. Definitely put it on your 'Food for Thought' summer reading list.



I've been busy managing the garden. 'Managing since' I'm not really doing any of the grunt work. I'm just sitting back and directing where the pea pod stalks should lead to and how far the strawberry runners should, well run, before getting redirected back to their patch. But mostly, I've just been enjoying the fresh, yummy bounty that's already popping up in the garden.

I view my garden as a subtle but subversive Pptthhbb blown into the face for agribusiness and food corporations. Many of the plants, like my black edamame (soy bean) and waxed beans were from seeds saved from previous harvests. Others were seedlings traded amongst friends. Some were bought from the local Community Gardens weekend organic plant sale or from Christex nursery who plant and raise their own seedlings. In many cases, the source of the seeds can be traced to back to an actual person that I've had direct and personal contact with. So different that the faceless, anonymous, factory farmed food that shows up the shelves.
It's also a blessing to have friends and family that share in my zeal for local food. My cousin Paul and his lovely wife, Ai , popped by for a visit on their whirlwind Vancouver Island tour. They were excited to see all the fleece I've been dyeing and all that has been happening in the garden. They were amazed at all the wonderful local food that they found along their tour of the island. I think sometimes it takes outsiders to remind us Islanders just how lucky were are to have the cornucopia that is our backyard.


They even came bearing gifts, a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a bottle of Pinot Noir from one of my favorite vineyards, Cherry Point Vineyards. They managed to swing by the vineyard as part of the their visit. This is ripe medium bodied red that both DH and I give raving two thumbs up. It works very well with salmon and can even hold up next to a meaty steak or match up to some summertime grilled veggies.





Dinner was a simple affair with some greens from the garden, stir fried with Gabriola Island minced garlic, local beef sauteed with sweet peppers and pan-fried udon noodles. Unfortunately, Paul & Ai had to run to catch the ferry back to the mainland.


That night, I managed to finish the first of a pair of socks for DH. Basic dark grey ribbed socks. My DH is a pretty easy-peasy guy with a wardrobe dominated by navy blue t-shirts and khakis. So far he's thrilled with the sock. I'm thrilled that he's thrilled but in the back of my selfish knitter brain I'm already dreading a future with a handknit sock addict for a DH. I'm not a sock knitter. I knit them but I don't drool over sock yarn or swoon over heel shaping techniques. That said, I do appreciate the warmth and joy of a handknit sock. I've already warned DH that since it took my over 8 years for me to knit him one sock, he may have to wait another 8 years for its partner :p

Just kidding. I've already thrown the second sock onto the needles in an effort to thwart the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome. Luckily for him, my newly dyed fleece is still drying and I don't have anything else on needles. Hopefully I'll get the second sock done by the end of the week.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Running on fumes

*yawn*

Excuse me, I'm a tad sleep deprived.
Kripes. I took me 5 tries to get that sentence right.

For some godforsaken reason, I woke up at 3:30am and couldn't get back to sleep no matter how many sheep I counted. I eventually rolled out of bed, conceded to the insomnia gods and got my day started at around 5 in the morning.

Actually, I was doing quite well for someone with only a few hours of sleep. Until about 15 minutes ago. It's now a quarter to 9am and I can't stop yawning. ACK! I've got an interview with a reporter from the Nanaimo Bulletin this afternoon and a dinner party tonight. Hopefully I get a power nap somewhere in my there. Who's kidding who, I'm going to be the one nodding off in the corner by 6pm. Yep, that's me, the afterlife of the party.

I did manage to get a bunch of stuff done before I lost all my steam including carding a batch of fleece, cleaning up the kitchen, doodling some more design ideas for my Fire & Ice sweater and some gardening. Guess what I found in the garden....Tah-dah!!!
The first strawberries from my berry patch. They're so sweet and intensely berry-licious.

I'm soon going to be able to have breakfast picnics in the garden again.



Yesterday, we were blessed with short visit and lunch date with our dear friends, Nat and Pete. I finally got a chance to sit Nat down and give her a knitting lesson. She was a total natural at it. Within 10 minutes she was knitting one row after another in perfect and equal tension! I was stunned considering it took me a couple of wonky and curdled scarves before I could got the hang of maintaining consistent tension. I think I've found my newest knitting prodigy!

I whipped up a quick lunch of local new potatoes (yes, they're finally here!) , free range eggs with veggies and a green salad with beets and cucumber in a pesto dressing. All the fresh vegetables, the eggs and the pesto in the dressing were all island grown.





Last night was the Mid-Island Weavers and Spinners' Guild's potluck. I made an asian style slaw salad with greens and veggies from the garden and Nanoose Edibles farm. So simple and yet so many complex flavours. Each bite was a different experience and ranged from the slightly bitter baby gai lan to the surprisingly sweet baby bok choy and the satisfying crunch of all round green goodness.

I guess I'd better go get some work done and hopefully my brain will spruce up a bit before newspaper interview this afternoon. Heaven knows that me on sleep deprived auto-pilot won't be very coherent.

Just a reminder, the Nanaimo Farmer's Market is on today from 10am to 2pm by the Bastion. The Gabriola Farmer's market I've been told is on tomorrow and the Cedar Farmer's market is on Sunday. Here's the details and more farmer's market info.

The garden that ate Tokyo

My weekend was wrapped around all things green and growing. Much of my winter garden managed to survive the winter and is growing strong. Not wanting to pull out the wonderful greens, I decided to expand to provide room for my warm weather veggies. I pulled up a good chunk of sod (lawn isn’t good eats), and expanded the garden to accommodate my growing green thumb daydreams.
So far, here's what's in the garden. From the winter garden, the kale, chard, spinach, garlic, gai lan and parsley are going strong. In the beginning of spring, I threw in sugar peas, black edamame (soybeans), orca beans, bok choy and more gai lan seeds. This past weekend, I planted in some eggplant, honeydew, winter squash and herbs seedlings.
I also repotted an army of tomatoes and various herbs (mint, basil, oregano, marjoram, cilantro, thyme and chives) into larger pots. I’m planning to grow them on the porch, off of the kitchen. I opted to grow them in containers partly because some, like mint, are invasive and are better contained. I also like them in pots so I can bring them in once it starts getting too cold. Hardier herbs like rosemary and oregano overwinter just fine outside.

My indoor Eden filled with tomato plants, veggie seedlings herbs and general gardening mayhem.

The tomatoes I prefer to grow in containers and keep them on the porch. Five gallon pots are fine for most varieties. It makes it easier to keep them from getting weird garden cooties and if it does turn out to be a summer of monsoons, I can pull them under the awning so they don’t get too wet. It also leaves me space in the veggie garden for other edible delights.

Having them in pots also allows me the option of bringing them in at the end of summer if it cools down more than usual. I have been able to keep some tomato plants well in to January. With a good warm, sunny location and a bit of care, they kept just kept fruiting!

Bok Choy








Spinach that has survived the winter and has shot back








Ooooo...the promise a many a sweet garden jems

On Saturday, I attended a food/farm forum hosted by local food advocates, Dr. Kathy Gemmel and Jenny MacLeod at Nanoose Place. The place was filled with farmers, members of the NDP, Liberal and Green Party, local press, various organizations, Malaspina University and the public. The event was started off with Nick Versteeg, food documentary filmmaker and co-leader of the Vancouver Island Slow Food Movement and clips from his documentary, “The Edible Schoolyard”, a project that brings farmers, chef and kids together to create a working vegetable garden in local schoolyards. Nick is planning to give a copy of the DVD to every school in BC for free. For more info, check out Nick’s film site, DV Cuisine.

Sunday started off with me shaken wide awake by dawn’s insistent light despite my wanting to sleep in for once. Why, oh why, must my body declare mutiny at such ungodly hours?!? To rub it in, DH was snoring like a hibernating bear, completely oblivious to my wide eyed plight. It took much willpower and compassion to not ‘accidentally’ bump him awake.

Instead I scampered downstairs and shared my morning with my tomato plants and watched as the day cracked open with blustering winds and alternating fistfuls of clouds and blue sky. I puttered a bit in the garden and decided that even MORE sod should be removed. This would allow me to plant even more veggies. However, my sleep deprived body was not able to bring itself to wield a shovel at that moment and I headed back inside for some garden scheming.

In my 100 Mile Diet quest, I’ve opted to not only eat food grown within 100 miles but to also do my best to create a garden from seeds and plants grown within a 100 mile radius. Luckily for us, we live in an area that has a parade of Seedy Saturdays/Sundays in the beginning of spring where local seed grower sell their wonderful and overwhelming array of organic, heirloom and specialty seeds.
We also have a number of local nurseries that grow their own plants from seeds right there on the premises, like the Green Thumb nursery, Christex Nursery (north end of Jinglepot and Monroe Roads). You can reach them at texd@bcsupernet.com . Farmer's markets are another source for locally grown seedlings for flower and food gardens. Another source for locally grown garden plants and veggies is The Community Gardens on 271 Pine Street. They run an organic plant sale every Saturday and Sunday.

It makes more sense to be buying locally grown plants and seeds for many of the same reasons as it does to buy locally grown produce. Locally grown plants are less likely to be stressed unnecessarily. They are not forced to bloom or artificially enhanced to grow faster for mass production. Many plants and seedlings imported in for big box retail stores have been forced to mature at a rate that is unhealthy for the plant. This leaves the plant weak and susceptible to diseases. They’re also not able to deal with the natural stressors. This is the botanical equivalent of forcing an infant straight into puberty in a matter of weeks.

One of the big problems that come from big box stores pushing their garden wares is that they’re pushing plants, flowers and veggie seedlings way too early in the season. This is a big problem especially with the cooler than normal temperatures that we’ve been having for this spring. Plants grown in this climate and allowed the time to grow at a healthy and normal rate are more like to continue growing successfully and bear better fruit. Christex Nursery won’t even release their tomato plants until June 1^st, which is the start date for bringing your tomato plants outside. In fact, with this cooler than average weather, I’ll probably be bringing in the tomatoes at night for the first few weeks until the overnight temperatures get in the double digits.

I popped by the Community Gardens’ organic plant sale Sunday morning. They have a wide array of flowers, veggies, fruit and herb plants. At $2 each, 3 for $5 or 10 for $15, for the 4 inch container plants, they’re one of the best deals in town.

BTW, The Community Gardens is looking for donations of 4 inch seedling containers, plastic bags, cardboard/plastic flats and vertical blinds. You can drop them off at the plant sale.

At the plant sale, I ran into a fellow 100 Miler and we headed off to the Cedar Farmer’s Market (Crow and Gate Pub, 2313 Yellowpoint Rd) for some grocery shopping. The market was bustling with vendors and patrons. This has become one of my favorite farmer’s markets. There was everything from locally grown pepperoni, veggies, plants, cheese, chicken, eggs and veggie seedlings. There’s also locally made pet supplies & treats, artisan bread, jewellery and even a massage booth.

With my newly expanded garden already stuffed to the gills, it took much willpower to not buy more seedlings. But my 100 Miler companions bought up some gorgeous chard seedlings and plants for the flower garden. Between the two of us, we filled up our backpacks with locally grown groceries and headed back home. Here’s a list of the local farmer’s markets that are open now.

After a weekend of working in the garden, I thought it best to celebrate with a good, old roasted chicken Sunday dinner. With a Shady Mile chicken, locally grown spaghetti squash, roasted local turnips and onions, organic wheat berries from the Peach River district and a parsley pesto made with parsley from the garden, we finished the weekend with a long, satisfying locally grown meal.

Dessert was baked rhubarb and cranberries topped with a drizzle of honey, all island grown, of course.

Parsley pesto is a great springtime sauce that goes well with fish and chicken and veggies and, well, pretty much anything that basil pesto goes with. You could also use other greens like arugula or cilantro. Parsley does fine in the garden over winter and I have a healthy crop of parsley to use in this pesto. Just in time since I’m down to my last bit of local basil pesto that I made last summer. To make it more 100 mile diet worthy, I substituted local hazelnuts for pine nuts and local cheese for parma. I keep the harden knobs and wedges of cheese in the freezer for grating or for flavouring into soups.

Here’s my recipe for 100 Mile Diet Pesto:

2 cups of basil, pesto, arugula, cilantro

1 handful of local hazelnuts, shelled and toasted

½ cup grated hardened cheese (I like Natural Pastures Boerenkaas, Amsterdammer and Hilary’s St. Clair)

a couple cloves of garlic

a couple glugs of olive oil.

salt and pepper to taste.

Blend ingredient all together into thick consistency. Great with grilled meats & veggies or tossed with some pasta. I also throw this in with some Marley Farms kiwi vinegar for a great vinegrette for a salad dressing. It's also a instant flavour booster for soups or a sandwich spread. I've even used as a crudite dip.

Have a great week!

Jen

Nanaimo's 100 Mile Diet Challenge

De-hibernating

Wake up sleepy bears! Time to shake winter out of your rusty bones. Spring is springing all over the place.

I returned from my extra-top secret superhero business to pollen infested rusty coast. Achoo!

Well, it isn’t all runny noses and itchy eyes. There are some good things about the coming of spring, like this:

Except for a garden shanty that my DH erected during one of the snowstorms, not much energy had to be put into the winter garden after the initial planting. That’s one of the best parts of winter gardening, no bugs and no weeds. Of course, now with spring around the corner, there is a bit of weeding to do. But with yesterday’s sunny break, it was grand to be digging about and mucking around. It’s been awesome to have fresh greens available through the winter. Even some of the red lettuce managed to hold on.

It seems the media is finally getting onto the local food bandwagon. Time magazine has a cover story on the benefits of locally grown food over other foods, even organics, grown far away. Check it out here.

For a local slant on the 100 Mile Diet and local food issues, check out the new issue of Synergy. Sean O'Connell, head super-chef of the Equinox Cafe, has a column on the 100 mile diet for the March/April issue.

For an extra boost of food system literature, I'm making my way through the 'Omnivore's Dilemma' by Michael Pollan. It's an entertaining look at the question "What should we have for dinner?" The author traces the food chain that sustains us through various narratives that range from visits to cornfields to food laboratories.

Warning: Knitting talk ahead. Proceed with caution!

I finished off the Honeymoon sweater a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I was sans phototaker gizmo for the last few weeks. They don’t like phototaker gizmos in superhero land. So here are some photos of the final product:

The back was done with a mix of techniques for the tree. I wanted a smooth line for the tree limbs and found that twisted stitches was the best and easiest method for that. The background colours was acheive by taking apart a couple different colourways of Noro (Kureyon and silk garden), most of them leftover from other projects, and recombining the colours to echo to colours of the the sunsets that blessed our honeymoon in Kyuquot Sound.
It falls to about mid-thigh and it’s just the punch of colour I need for these last few grey and gloomy weeks. It gives my wardrobe just the enough fun, vibrant colouring without making me looking like a Rainbow Bright doll on crystal meth.

Since finishing that, I’ve started on a lighter weight sweater for the rest of spring. I’ve been reading up on weaving and have always been taken with baroque brocade patterns but have found most brocade patterned clothing looks like someone turned grandma’s curtains into a frock. Just a tad stuffy for me. So I’ve been working out a more contemporary brocade pattern for a spring sweater. I call it 'Broken Brocade' since the white background is broken up with bits of colour.

The white and the variegated colour is from Lorna Laces sport weight. The variegated is their Seascape colourway. So lovely. The eggplant is from the super fine Gems line by Louet. Yeah, I know, the last time I used fine yarn to make a sweater I drove myself to the suburb of insanity. Let’s see if I can get through this one without ending up on the expressway straight to the knitting nuthouse.

I’m also getting together a 100 Mile Fiber blog for spinners, weavers, knitters, crocheters and basketmakers to share their creations made from fibers grown from within 100 miles of where they live. I’ve got a whole sheeps fleece coming my way soon and I have a batch of local alpaca that I’m designing to make a shawl with. I also have a batch of cedar bark that’s about ready to be used to make a basket with.

It’s going to be a busy spring!

Have a great day and happy eating!

Jen

Nanaimo's 100 Mile Diet Challenge

Free Range at the Range

A future step taken for my 100 Mile Diet today, I threw in some winter veggies seedlings into the garden. I had a bunch that I grew from seed saved from last year and a few 6-packs of seedlings that I picked up from Long Lake nurseries. They had a table of winter veggies that included lettuce, spinach, kale and spinach, cabbage, brocolli and, of course, brussel sprouts. I know that by mid-February, I'll be sick and tired eating kale, but right now I'm dancing-my-ass-off excited about having another winter veggie garden. I had already thrown in some sea soil and tidied up the raised beds a few days ago, so it took all over 15 mins to put them in. Here's one I had a few years back in Port Alberni:


It's the middle of November in that picture. You're just going to have to take my word for it.

So I did a bit of postering around Downtown Nanaimo in preparation for the upcoming 100 Mile Diet Challenge Week. I ran into a friend who told me about an organic chicken and turkey farmer on Jinglepot Road with a very interesting story to tell. I'm thinking the next challenge for me will have to be a 100 Mile Diet Thanksgiving!

I'm still flying solo at the dinner table. DH will be back tomorrow. I like cooking for myself. It's a chance to experiment even more so than I usually do. To play with different texture and flavours that I normally wouldn't try if I was cooking for others. It's one thing if I end up eating toast for dinner because my radish and cranberry soup experiment didn't quite work out, it's another thing to make others do so.

However, it was past 9pm when I realized that I was hungry. I realized that I was hungry because I hadn't eaten dinner. I was also tired and not up to playing Iron Chef so figured I'd do a kitchen sink fritatta. Basically bits and pieces of stuff thrown into a fritatta. It's my way of doing some fridge housecleaning. I way of getting rid of leftovers gathering in random bowls and containers and bits of fresh ingredients that aren't enough to make something one their own. In a way it is a form of experimenting since often the most unlikely combinations end up together. I once did a kitchen sink fritatta with green beans in fermented black bean sauce, grilled chorizo sausage, greek salad and hummous that was surprisingly good. Unfortunately, I've never had that combination of leftovers since.

Here's what I had for leftovers: roasted corn (from dinner last night), small chunk of steak already cooked that I've been having as my main meat this week, blanched green beans, boiled beets. And I had some fresh bits: small bunch of swiss chard, bits of Hilary's Red Dawn cheese, red onion and basil. Yes, all of it grown within 100 miles.

So I sauted up the onion, then threw in the roasted corn, the chard, and the last of the steak (sliced thinly). As those ingredients heated up on medium-high heat, I beated a couple of local free-range eggs with some of the basil and a bit of water. To cut basil quickly, just stack the leaves, fold over lengthwise and cut directly into the bowl. The egg mixture went into the pan. Once almost completely cooked, I grated the rest of the Red Dawn cheese over the top of the eggs and pop it right under a waiting hot broiler until the cheese caramelized. I mixed the beets and beans together with a dash of balsamic vinegar and some dijon mustard for a salad.

It was great. The sweet roasted corn played nice counterpoint to the 'greeness' of the chard. The steak offered some interesting texture and flavour. I think cutting it thin was the key. Thick slices would have muddied up the texture. The Red Dawn cheese worked really well. It's mild enough that it doesn't dominate but it still has a presence. It helped bring out the sweetness of the corn.

I was going to take a picture but I was too hungry :P

Now I gotta go hunt for dessert.

Happy Eating!
Jen