Gin, Tonic and Cucumber

I had lunch with my former boss last week and he was discussing his wheat intolerance and how many of the gluten free beers available on the market are not that enjoyable and that his newest summer 'dock' drink is gin and tonic with cucumber.

It just so happens that I am a Gin girl. If there is a drink I am going to have on a hot summer day or cold's winters day, if I am being honest - it would be Gin and Tonic. And I have ALWAYS drank it with lime. So when Gary mentioned cucumber I knew I had to give it a try.

Lucky for me, this little baby was sitting outside in my garden just waiting for me.

There are no special instructions to this drink. It is as simple to make as it sounds, however if you are patient and it is not an emergency situation, ie. you haven't had a simply horrible day at work and the only thing that will keep you going is a Gin and Tonic and you need it NOW, you may want to try one simple thing.

Wash you cucumber and then finely slice it, but do not peel. Place 3-4 slices in your glass and pour the shot of gin on top and let it sit for at least 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes are up, add ice and your tonic. I personally prefer Diet Tonic, not because I am counting caleries or anything but because it is not as sweet and allows the flavour of the gin to have some presence.

And then you simply enjoy it. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cheers!

Happy Anniversary to The Depanneur

I first became acquainted with The Depanneur (or ‘The Dep’ as it has become to be known) this past winter when my husband and I signed up to become a member of The Rusholme Park Supper Club (Family Style dinner parties hosted by a rotating cast of chefs) and joined them for an evening with the Pork Ninja’s. It was an intimate gathering of food lover’s; amazing food was consumed and the Pork Ninja’s have since become Thursday night regulars. If you have never tasted their delicious competition grade BBQ pulled pork you have no idea what you are missing. But Pork Ninja’s aside, if you have never been to The Depanneur you really need to change that. They have been awarded with the 2012 Award for ‘Spicy New Venture’ by Food Forward and have really created something new and exciting for our fair city. You can drop in for dinner and try food from all over the world, prepared by some of the city’s best kept secrets. They serve it up from 6pm until the food sells out. Plus they have commercial kitchen space that they rent out to food entrepreneurs such as myself. Overall just an amazing concept and the food served never fails to delight.

It is for this and many more reasons, that I am so excited to blog about the fact that Manning Canning is partnering with The Dep to offer its customers a series of preserving classing in September and October. If you have ever wanted to learn how to preserve the freshness of all of those amazing summer fruits and vegetables so that you can enjoy summer even in winter, well now is your chance! Over a series of 4 classes, I will walk participants through safe canning practices and basics of making jam and pickles and preserving fruit. All students will take home one jar of the product made in class that day, along with a print out of the recipe and be armed with the knowledge required to can safely at home.

The classes run from 6:30pm-9:30pm on the dates outlined below and take place at The Dep, which is located at 1033a College Street. To register for the classes, just click right here.

SEPT 12 - CLASS 1 – Fresh Pears with Ginger

In the first class of the series we will cover the basics principles of safe canning and as a group work together to preserve Pears with Ginger

SEPT 26 - CLASS 2 – Tomato Jam

There is more to tomatoes than tomato sauce. Learn how to turn tomatoes into a delicious tomato jam that can be used as a spread in sandwiches, as a substitute for ketchup or as an accompaniment to a delicious cheese plate

OCT 10 - CLASS 3 – Getting Pickled 

Pickled Carrots and Pickled Cauliflower. We will explore how different combinations of vinegar and spices can drastically change the flavour of what you pickle

OCT 24 - CLASS 4 – Canning with Wine or Beer 

The addition or beer or wine to your canning recipe can have some pretty fabulous results and in this class we will explore their benefits in preserving

-----

Workshops are $40+HST each and includes a jar of whatever is made.

Attend all 4 Preserving Workshops and save $20!

4 Workshops for $140+HST

I look forward to passing on my love of preserving with everyone in the class and hope to see you soon!

Beer Jam

When you think Beer and then you think Jam what other ingredients come to mind? First of all, there are all of the different types of beer to consider; lager, al, wheat beer, stout, etc. And then once you have settled on a beer what goes with it?

I should ask my friends at Peerless Beers as I have had the pleasure of tasting many a fine beer in their company and under their guidance.

But my creative juices are flowing and there is simply no time for such counsel ;). Yesterday, James and I were out in the garden picking all of the ripe tomatoes that we have on our plants in the backyard. (btw...it has been a busy morning as those are already cut up and on the stove being turned into Spicy Tomato Jam for our personal stock) and I noticed that my rhubarb has exploded once again. I was thinking about this new bounty of rhubarb last night and wondering if I should make more Rhubarb Vanilla Jam, when suddenly Rhubarb and Beer were together side by side in my mind.

Rhubarb Beer Jam. I even like the sounds of it. I am thinking that it would go nicely with a wheat beer...what do you think?

To be honest, it was not where I was going originally when I started to think of Beer Jam. I was thinking of something heavier, kinda syrupy. And that may still happen. But I have been side-tracked and now I need to know if I am onto something good.

Stay tuned....

A Garden in Bloom - Cucumbers

This is my first year with what I would call a 'real' vegetable garden. Last year what we had in our backyard qualified as more of a 'patch' than a garden, but this year, we went nuts and I would say we are officially gardeners. We have 21 tomato plants that are bursting with cherry, plum and beefsteak tomatoes, there is rocket, arugula and spinach, mint, basil and sage, carrots, turnips, parsnips, green beans, peas and last but not least (and this totally feels like the academy awards and like I am forgetting an ever important vegetable growing in my garden) cucumber.

One would think that for someone like me who likes to pickle or preserve almost everything, that I would have chosen to plant mini cucumbers so that I could make pickles. Wrong! I chose to grow regular full size cucumbers and last night we harvested our very first full size cucumber and I made a traditional tomato bread salad with plum tomatoes, basil, cucumber, chick peas, crouton and a dijon balsamic vinagrette. But before I made the salad I need to taste the cucumber on it's own. One wouldn't think there would be much difference between the store bought cucumber and the garden grown (completely pesticide free) cucumber but there is. I can't even put it into words, but it just tastes like summer!

So now that we have a small plot of cucumbers growing I have been searching for interesting recipes where I can put this bounty to good use and I came across this simple yet very delicious sounding recipe where the cucumber still plays a pretty major role and I think I now know what I will be making with cucumber number 2 once it is ready to harvest.

It is on a site that I peruse on a regular basis - Tasty Kitchen as it has a good rating system, different contributors and a great selection.

If I ever have time to have people over for dinner before the snow flies, you may expect this as an appetizer :)

What do you get when you mix 3lbs of bacon, coffee and maple syrup together?

It all started with an innocent suggestion from my friend Sue on my facebook page when she asked me if I could make her some bacon jam. It was a simple comment but it started the gears in my mind to turn and then Chef Cheryl from the Meat Department on the Danforth offered me free bacon to experiment with and it was 'Game Over'.

I had bought some bacon jam in the winter and even though I LOOOOVE bacon, I found the flavour too bacon-y and perhaps lacking in complexity. So this weekend after picking up 5lbs of free bacon (and I promise I will only mention them one more time here) from The Meat Dept on the Danforth it was time to do a little research online to see what people were saying and doing when they made Bacon Jam. Some were adding tomato which sounded interesting while others were sticking to garlic and onion and then there were still others who were dancing with maple syrup.

What to do? What to do?

So this morning, I got down with my bad self in my kitchen and started to experiment. Bacon, onions, garlic, brown sugar, some very strong coffee, some maple syrup and a touch of vinegar all magically combined in my cast iron frying pan and turned my house into a mouth watering sensation. Even now several hours after the fact, my kitchen smells so good that my mouth waters when I enter it.

I now have 5 jars of bacon goodness sitting in my fridge and tomorrow I believe that I will go into the backyard and pick some ripe tomatoes from my garden and I will toast a little white bread, spread some bacon jam on there and then slice some fresh tomatoes on top and call it heaven.

Care to come for dinner?

Later this week, I will be swinging by and paying the good people at The Meat Dept a visit with 4 jars of bacon jam so they can do a little taste test and tell me what they think. I will share the verdict once I hear.

Peach Jam with a twist

This might not be the year to decide to experiment with my peach jam recipe with everyone saying what a horrible year it is going to be for peaches. Each year I try to preserve enough peaches and make enough jam to carry me through the winter months and I hope that this year is no different. Yes, peaches might be more expensive, yet I can't seem to imagine they will be so expensive that I won't find preserving enough to get me through the winter worthwhile.

But to take a great batch of fresh peaches picked up at the market and instead of making the tried, tested and true peach jam recipe to experiment with these precious peaches, is that just madness?

Madness or not it is what I decided to do today. I have a great peach jam recipe. I can't remember if my mom gave it to me or my sister Yvonne. They can both lay claim cause I am sure at one point or another they both shared their peach jam recipes with me. Whether my mom's or my sisters, it is good! But I had an idea on how to make it better. Now by making it better I am also making it perhaps not suitable to be spread on toast in the morning, which is how I have always loved my peach jam. All these things aside...I had an idea.

What if I were to add brandy to my peach jam recipe...what might that taste like? I was determined to find out.

Dizzy Peach Jam

4 pounds peaches (peel, remove the pit and then crush)

3/4 cup brandy

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp butter (unsalted)

7 cups sugar

2 pouches liquide pectin (3oz)

If you decide you are going to make the PG version of this and take out the brandy, there are a couple of alterations you will need to make to this recipe. The first is that you will only need 1 pouch of liquid pectin and the 2nd is that you might want to add about 1/2 cup more of sugar.

In a large pot. combine the peaches, brandy, lemon juice and 3.5 cups sugar. Place the lid on and cover for at least an hour. I gave it 3 hours so that the brandy would soak in real good :).

Remove the lid and add the rest of the sugar. Place the pot over med/low heat and stir until the sugar you just added dissolves. Once it is fully dissolved, turn the heat to high and continue to stir until it reaches a full rolling boil. If you continue to stir constantly this will take 20-30 minutes. Don't rush it as you want to allow some of the brandy to evaporate, otherwise the jam won't set. At this point take the pan off the burner and with a wooden spoon, skim off the foam.

Place the pot back on the stove and return it to a full boil. Add the pectin and continue stirring until it reaches a full rolling boil again. Boil and stir for another minute and then remove from the stove.

In order to prevent the fruit from separating, I usually let the jam sit for 5-8 minutes stirring from time to time before I ladle them into my previously sanitized and prepared jars. Once I wipe the rim and put on the lids I return it to the water bath and process 250ml jars for 10 minutes.

My official taste tester gave it a taste and claims that he wishes we had a loaf of white bread in the house to eat a jar with and I found myself craving Kawartha Dairy Vanilla Ice Cream. Tell me what you think it would taste best with and the person who makes my mouth water the most with their idea will get a jar to taste test for me!

Sour Cherry Jam for Ms. Sandler

My dear friend Cori deserted her Toronto friends when her and her lovely partner Alice packed up, sold their house and moved to the west coast. They bought a house on the island and have settled into a nice new life that seems to suit them both amazingly well. Going out to visit them is high on my wish list.

When Cori tweeted this earlier this week, I knew I had to dig out an old recipe that my cousin gave me a few years ago and share it with her. I hope it is not too late :).

Sour Cherry Jam

6 cups sour cherries. You will want approx 4 cups after you have pitted and chopped them

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

4.5 cups sugar

1/2 tsp butter (unsalted)

1 pouch liquid pectin (3 oz)

Combine the cherries and the sugar and let sit for 45 minutes. Place the cherries in a large pot and add the lemon juice and butter. Over medium low heat heat the mixture until the sugar completely dissolves stirring constantly.

Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and bring the cherry mixture to a full rolling boil. This should take 15-20 minutes to get to a boil.

Stir in the pectin and continue to stir constantly , returning the mixture to a rolling boil for 60 seconds. During this 60 seconds test the consistency on a spoon to ensure it has achieved the consistency you want. Remove the pan from the stove and quickly skim off any foam.

Let it sit and cool for 4-5 minutes before ladling it into the jars. You should have sterilized the jars and lids before hand and will want to ensure you are ladling the jam into warm jars. Leave 1/4" head space.

Clean the rims of any jam that may have gotten on it during the ladling process and screw on your lids. Place in a hot water bath for 10 minutes assuming you are using 250ml jars.

Remove and allow to cool. Then enjoy.

Mamacita's Tomato Sauce

Years ago my mom gave me an old yellow recipe holder filled with recipes. Some of the recipes I have made more times than I can remember. Her chinese cabbage salad gets made quite regularly. But last week I was flipping through it looking for some inspiration when I came across her tomato sauce recipe. Now I can't remember my mom making this in recent years but I do recall the flavour.

Now that my 21 tomato plants are almost 5 feet tall with little green tomatoes all over them I am starting to plan ahead to the days when they are ripe; thinking about what to do with them. I know that tomato jam will be on that list, but will I make tomato sauce. I sure I hope I find the time. But at the very least I thought I would share her recipe with those of you who might want to find a use for their very own tomatoes.

This will make approximately 4 quarts

Mamacita's Tomato Sauce

25-30 pounds plum tomatoes. Core and quarter them

2 tsp pickling salt

8 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup lemon juice (bottled preferred over strained fresh)

2 tbsp ground black pepper

In a large stainless steel pot over medium heat, bring the tomatoes to a boil. Make sure to stir them frequently so they don't stick to the bottom. Reduce and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the tomatoes are nice and soft.

Press the tomatoes through a food mill and discard the seeds and skins. Return the tomatoes to the pan and stir in the salt.

Over medium heat cook the remaining pulp, continuing to stir on a regular basis until they are at your desired consistency. The hand written note on the recipe said that this took my mom about an hour when the tomatoes were juicy.

Remove it from the heat and then stir in the lemon juice.

Ladle the sauce into your sterilized and warm jars, leaving 1/2" headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe the rims and screw on the lids.

Put into the hot water bath for 40 minutes. Remove and let cool. Store in a cool, dark place.

Ontario Garlic

I have to admit that this summer was my very first time trying Ontario Garlic. Like most people I guess I had gotten into the routine of just picking it up at the grocery store and not really paying attention as to it's origin. Now that I am paying attention, I know that in most instances the origin in China.

I bought my first Ontario Garlic at the Brickworks and promptly forgot about it sitting on my shelf. But when the time came to use garlic in a recipe I was making, I was amazed at how much more flavourful it was. I needed to know if this was a one time thing, so I bought more when I was at the UTSC Farmer's Market in the early spring. It too proved to be of superior flavour than the Chinese Garlic I was used to using.

Now I think I am forever ruined...how will I ever return to the bland garlic we find in most grocery stores around the city. I grabbed a bunch of Ontario Garlic at Withrow Market on the weekend and for the first few days this week I couldn't decide if I should use it or merely keep it as decoration.

The answer came this evening when I got to work making Onion and Garlic Jam. The Onions were from Ontario so it seemed only right to marry them with these gorgeous garlics straight from a farm in Prince Edward County.

If you don't already buy local garlic, you should!

Picking raspberries and raspberry jam

I have mentioned my love of picking fruits and vegetables in the past. There is something about it that I just love. It might be the fact that it gets you outdoors, perhaps I just love being around food ;), whatever it is there is no denying that it is something I could spend hours doing.

I have been telling my husband for the past week that I want to get out and pick some raspberries but life has just been so busy. He keeps telling me that instead of 'picking' raspberries it would make so much more sense if I just went out and 'bought' some. And for a few days I was starting to think he was right. When was I ever going to find the time to actually do it this year.

This morning I got up at 7am, jumped into some clothes, grabbed my fruit baskets and took a slight drive north to Whittamore Farms. On the way there I was thinking about all of the things that I need to get done today and by the time I made it to the farm I had almost convinced myself that my husband was right. It just made more sense for me to go into the store, buy the berries and get back in my car so that I could get home and start knocking things off the to-do list.

Am I ever happy I told that inner voice to shut up!

From 7:30am til just past 9am, I stood in amongst rows and rows of ripe juicy berries forgetting completely about all of the things on my to-do list, eating half of what I picked :) and just letting my mind be a blank. The birds were chirping, there was a gentle breeze and the raspberries were so ripe that they were just falling right off into my hands and into my baskets. By about the 2nd basket all you could smell was the sweet smell of fresh rasperries, and the earthy aromas of the farm. It was almost therapeutic.

And now I am home and I have half of the berries in my deep freeze to carry me through the winter and the other half washed and ready to be made into jam. I have a simple recipe that I have used for years and has never let me down. I posted it a couple of months ago using frozen berries but it is exactly the same with fresh. You will find me in the kitchen for the next couple of hours mashing away!