Summer salads

Summer's officially here, and since I'm still without a/c, I need to find meal options that don't involve turning on the oven.

Salads are a natural choice, and I decided to take advantage of the strawberries in season for this first one.

There's no recipe per se, but first I washed and dried a handful of spinach leaves and piled them on a plate. Next I cut up a cucumber and some strawberries, while I quickly toasted some pecans on the stove. I crumbed some goat cheese over, and drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the whole thing. Tasty!

This quinoa recipe was adapted from an LCBO flyer I got in the paper a couple of weeks ago. I adapted it slightly from the original version, throwing in some asparagus and leftover tomoatoes (I didn't have a full pint), and didn't bother to toast the sunflower seeds -- but they're a great, crunchy addition anyway. I at this as is, without the spinach leaves. It makes a great lunch seved cold.

Quintissential Quinoa Salad

Prepare quinoa first

1 1/2 c uncooked quinoa (I had only one cup)
2 1/2 c salted boiling water

Bring water to boil, then add in quinoa. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until all water is absorbed. Set aside to cool.

Salad ingredients

1, 398ml can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 oz Feta cheese, crumbled
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 small red onion, finely diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
1/2 orange pepper diced
6 cups baby spinach leaves
1 c toasted sunflower seeds

Dressing (I halved the amount)

2 big cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 c extra virgin olive oil
pinch salt
crackled black pepper

Combine all ingredients, except oil, in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously, then add oil in two batches, shaking between each addition.

Combine all ingredients in large bowl, and drizzle with dressing to taste.

Potato Rosemary Pizza

Sometimes you just fancy a pizza with a twist.

The twist, in this case, is potatoes. On a pizza? Why not! They're rounded out with some onion and rosemary fresh from my garden. Oh, and paremsan cheese too.

I actually managed this pizza on a weeknight, if you can believe it. I put together the dough in the morning before work, and let it rest in the fridge all day. When I got home, all I had to do was slice the potatoes, and let the dough come to room temperature.

Let's begin, shall we?

Slice your taters really thin. This is best done on a mandoline, but if you're without one, as I am, then use your best knife skills to get them as paper thin as possible. Then, leave them to soak in some salt water for a while.

And if anyone from Farm Boy is reading this, please, PLEASE sell your Yukon Gold potatoes loose so I am not forced to by a 10lb bag of them! Thank you.

Next, spread them out on the dough, along with some onion and black pepper. The rosemary goes on top. (The dough's quite difficult to work on its own, but I found it easier to stretch out with the toppings on for some reason.)

And into a very, very hot oven it goes, until the potatoes get crispy and the crust gets crisp. Truthfully, I think the recipe is a bit too generous with the baking time, and I probably should have rescued this about five minutes earlier. Oh well, just had to chew around the burnt bits.

Aren't these slices just crying out for a nice, cold beer?

Potato Rosemary Pizza
(recipe found on Shutterbean, and originally adapted from My Bread, by Jim Lahey)

Makes One 13-by-18-inch pie

1 quart lukewarm water
4 teaspoons table salt
6 to 8 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
1 cup sliced yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 recipe No Knead Pizza Dough
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
Parmesan cheese, grated
Preheat the oven to 500 F with a rack in the middle

In a medium bowl, combine the water and salt, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Use a knife or mandoline to slice the peeled potatoes very thin (1/16th inch thick), and put the slices directly into the salted water so they don’t oxidize and turn brown. Let soak in the brine for about an hour, until the slices are wilted and no longer crisp.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and use your hands to press out as much water as possible, then pat dry. In a medium bowl, toss together the potato slices, onion, pepper, and olive oil.

Spread the potato mixture evenly over the dough, going all the way to the edges of the pan; put a bit more of the topping around the edges of the pie, as the outside tends to cook more quickly. Sprinkle evenly with the rosemary.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the topping is starting to turn golden brown and the crust is pulling away from the sides of the pan. At the 20 minute mark, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the pizza and continue baking. Serve the pizza hot or at room temperature.

No Knead Pizza Dough
(recipe from My Bread, by Jim Lahey)

Makes: enough dough for two pies baked in 13x18-inch rimmed baking sheets

3 3/4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/3 cups water
extra virgin olive oil for pan

In a bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the water, and using a spoon, your hand, or a baker's plastic bench scraper, mix together until blended -- this should take a couple of minutes.

Cover the dough and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours. (Or stick in the fridge and leave all day.)

Dump out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut it in half. Use both pieces, or save one in the refrigerator (use a zip lock bag) for up to 1 day. Oil a 13x18 inch rimmed baking sheet liberally with good extra virgin olive oil. Then gently plop the dough on the pan and stretch and press it out to the edges. If it springs back wait five minutes and then proceed. The dough is very thin. If it tears, piece it back together.

Orchid in bloom

Thought I would post some orchid news. I bought this plant in February of 2010 and the blooms lasted quite a while, then dropped off. I'd read that orchids renew themselves, so I set to test that theory. I carefully watered the plant, placed it in a south-facing window, and watched as leaves dropped off, then grew again. About four months ago, I noticed a new plant spike emerging. Soon, it sported some buds. And last week, those buds began to bloom!

There are still about six flowers waiting to appear. Not a bad result from very little effort and a bit of patience.

Rhubarb cinnamon polenta cake

I am a huge fan of rhubarb and have been searching everywhere for a plant to root in my garden. (Okay, so I really haven't looked EVERYWHERE, but I have asked at both local farmers markets and no luck. What more can honestly be expected of me?)

Last weekend, my moaning and whining about my rhubarb-free existence finally paid off and I was lucky enough to received some free rhubarb. I couldn't wait to dig in (pardon the pun), so I immediately turned to my new Nigel Slater book, Tender Vol. II, for his take on the sour stuff. The Brits seem to love rhubarb almost as much as I do, and use it in both savoury and sweet dishes. Of course, theirs sprouts up in February, which would be a welcome sight in any garden.

Anyway, this recipe uses cornmeal, or polenta, which gives the cake a crunchy texture that's rather nice.

I used the wrong sized tin for this, so it came out more tart like than cakey, but it's still good. It keeps well several days after baking, and manages to retain its tenderness too.

Get chopping!

Chop up 500g of rhubarb and place in a baking dish. Sprinkle with some sugar and a splash of water.

While that's baking, you get started on the crust, which comes together quite easily in a food processor. Press into a pan that's actually 20cm and you'll have better results than I did.


When the rhubarb's done cooking, you let it drain and cool for a bit in a colander, then spread it out over the crust.

And top it off with the leftover third of the crust and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar.

The end result looks like this. Slighty more cobbler looking than cake, but again, this would likely be rectified in a smaller pan. Though a bit flat-ish, the cake was remarkably moist.

Serve it with the reserved juices, which thicken once refrigerated. I'll definitely be making this one again, and so should you.

Rhubarb cinnamon polenta cake

From Nigel Slater's Tender Vol. II

Ingredients

For the filling:

500g rhubarb
50g golden caster sugar
4 tbsp water

For the crust:
125g coarse polenta *Nigel explicitly states that you're not to use the fine, sand-like cornmeal, but a coarser variety. I've never seem more than one grind for sale in Canada, so I used some pretty fine stuff and it wasn't a problem.
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of ground cinnamon
150g golden caster sugar
grated zest of a small orange
150g butter
1 large egg
2-4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp light muscovado sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

1. Cut each rhubarb stem into two or three pieces and put them in a baking dish
2. Scatter over the sugar and water, and bake for 30-40 minutes until the rhubarb is soft but still retains its shape
3. Put the polenta, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and caster sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Add the grated zest and the butter, cut into smallish pieces, then blitz for a few seconds till you have something that resembles breadcrumbs
4. Beat egg and milk in a small bowl and add to the crumb mixture. Blitz until just combined
5. Press about two-thirds of the mixture into the cake tin, pushing it a couple of centimeters up the sides with a floured spoon
6. Place the rhubarb on top, leaving a small rim around the edge uncovered and cover with the remaining batter
7. Scatter over the light muscovado sugar
8. Bake on the hot baking sheet for 45 minutes
9. Leave to cool before removing from tin and serve with the juice left over from the rhubarb

Busy busy!

Where did that long weekend go? You'd think I would have plenty of time to update the old blog, what with three whole days off, but here it is on Sunday night and I'm scrambling to find something quick to post. I blame everything on the obscene number of dandelions I had to pull from my lawn.

More cooking and gardening stuff soon. In the meantime, here and here are two articles I recently wrote on girl power in the business world. Enjoy!

Spinach and feta filo pie

I was lucky enough to get Jamie Oliver's new 30 Minute Meals book for Christmas, and at first, I wasn't too sure about the content. For one thing, the book is crowded and not particularly easy to navigate. All the recipes are presented in complete meals, with the idea that you set about to make everything all at once in a short period of time. Therefore, the instructions for all the receipes are combined together on one page, and he provides details on how to juggle back and forth between all dishes in order to get everything done on time.

Layout problems aside, when I actually sat down and started to read the book, I was intrigued by most of the recipes. As noted in this blog previously, I'm a big fan of Jamie's cooking and usually his food turns out very well.

I made this spinach and feta filo pie for the first time several weeks ago, and I've made it again since. It's pretty easy to put together, and really, really yummy. It's good the first night, right out of the oven, and just as good re-heated for leftovers on subsequent nights.

One minor quibble is that I only made this meal, and not the suggested side salads or dessert for this Greek-inspired meal, and it took me much longer than 30 minutes. Granted, I did not have the ingredients assembled beforehand, but cooking the spinach alone (in batches) takes 20 minutes. Perhaps 55 minute (plus) meals wouldn't be as catchy a title.

Speaking of spinach...
Here it is. The recipe calls for a whopping 400g, which is almost an entire giant spinach container you can buy from the grocery store. You have to cook it down in several batches, which is a bit tedious. But perservere with the knowledge that your iron levels will be off the charts because of your efforts.

While the spinach is wilting away, combine the eggs and cheese in a separate bowl.

Next up, prepare your filo dough and sprinkle with some cayenne for a bit of a kick.

Then add the filling to the filo.

Wrap everything up for its nap in the oven.

'Til it comes out looking like this!

Cut yourself a gooey piece and imagine you're in Mykonos by the sea.

Spinach and feta filo pie

From Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals

100g (3½oz) pinenuts *I used walnuts, because I didn't want to re-mortgage my house to buy pinenuts
5 free range or organic eggs
300g (10½oz) feta cheese
50g (1¾oz)
Cheddar cheese
Dried oregano
1 lemon
A knob of butter
400g (14oz) prewashed baby spinach

1 x 270g pack of filo pastry

Cayenne pepper
1 whole nutmeg

TO START: Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Turn the oven on to 200C/ gas 6. Put a medium (approx 26cm/10½in diameter) ovenproof frying pan on a medium heat. Put the standard blade attachment in the food processor.

SPINACH & FETA PIE: Put the pinenuts into the dry ovenproof frying pan to toast, tossing occasionally. Keep an eye on them. Crack 5 eggs into a mixing bowl and crumble in 300g (10½oz) feta. Grate in the Cheddar.

Add a pinch of pepper, a couple of pinches of dried oregano, zest of 1 lemon and a glug of olive oil. Once the nuts are light golden, add them to the egg mixture and mix well.

Put the empty frying pan back on the heat, add a little olive oil and a knob of butter and pile in half of the spinach. Gently push and move it around and add more as it wilts down. Make sure it doesn't catch on the bottom and, when there's room, start adding the rest, stirring frequently.
Meanwhile, take the pastry out of the fridge.

Lay a large sheet of greaseproof paper, approx 50cm (20in) long, on the worktop, rub a little olive oil all over it, then scrunch it up and lay it out flat again. Arrange 4 filo pastry sheets in a large rectangle, overlapping at the edges, so they almost cover the paper. Rub some olive oil over them. Sprinkle over a good pinch of salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Repeat until you have 3 layers. Don't worry about any cracked bits. Remember to keep stirring the spinach.

Once the spinach is really nice and dense, take the pan off the heat. Add the wilted spinach to the egg mixture and grate in ½ a nutmeg. Mix well. Carefully move the greaseproof paper and filo into the empty frying pan so the edges spill over. Push it down into the sides of the pan, then pour in the egg mixture and spread it out. Fold the filo sheets over the top and let them fall where they will (for more help go to www. jamieoliver.com/how-to-filo-pie).

Put the pan back on a medium heat for a couple of minutes to get the bottom cooking, then put the pan into the oven on the top shelf to cook for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp.

Chicago

Last weekend I took off to Chicago. You know, to hang with Oprah and Obama for a few days. It's how I roll.

Chicago's a great city, and really easy to get to from Ottawa (with a minor stop in Toronto via Porter). The weather was fantastic and it was full on spring in the windy city.

The flowers were in perfect bloom along the Magnificent Mile. Purple hyacinths!

And you can't escape the architecture -- it's pretty much everywhere.

The views are great from the street or the river.

The El train (short for elevated). I didn't know that until this trip.

The Tribune building, where probaby three or four journalists are still at work.

It was a windy day for a walk along the lake.

Lots of public art throughout the city too.

But really, we were there to eat. I was too embarrassed to take may photos in restaurants, but we had amazing Mexican food (and a tangerine mojito) here, we saw Oprah's chef and ate catfish here.

We had a really creative meal at Graham Elliot, where I snuck this photo (complete with invasive flash) of my stater, which was an unconstructed Caesar salad. It featured tiny segments of lettuce, rolled in parmesan and topped with an anchovie. The rectangular bit at the bottom of the plate was a cheesy twinkie, filled with garlicky cream. So good.

And we went out of our way to go to Blackbird, where the food was great, and the clientele super stylish. I captured a photo of the finale to the meal, which featured parsnip ice cream. Really!

And the best ending to the trip was running into Tommy Smythe (from Sarah's House) in the elevator at our hotel! That's the second time I've met him, so I think that qualifies us to be BFFs, and he'll certainly be redecorating my house very soon.