Stormy Day Chowder

We’ve been under a blizzard warning today and haven’t even ventured outside. Here on the east coast we know what to do during stormy weather – keep calm and make soup! The key to managing when roads are impassable is to have a good stock of staples on hand at all times. Had we lost power, we might have subsisted on tuna, or peanut butter, or dozens of other “in a pinch” choices. But this time we were fortunate to just have to hunker down and keep warm.

Our easy, delicious chowder was made from ingredients we always have on hand: frozen fish fillets, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, and a few other flavours.

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For two:

Place 240g/8oz fillets on a plate to thaw enough to safely dice. Meanwhile…

Dice:
1 peeled potato
1 medium onion
1 peeled carrot
1 stalk celery

Bring to boil and simmer in 250ml/2c water until tender.

Add diced fish and:

2 bottled or canned anchovies, chopped
2 ml pepper

Simmer until fish is cooked and will flake.

Add:

1 can evaporated skim milk

Heat through and enjoy with crackers or whole meal bread. We did!

Awesome Burgers with Sesame Orange Dijon Salad

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The evenings are starting to cool off and the days are getting shorter. In just a few weeks I fear we will be faced with the f word…fall.

But for now there is plenty of tremendous produce in the garden to make salad, and we grilled these juicy burgers. Putting a dent in the middle (in tribute to our daughter’s man-friend, we call it “Paulito style”) keeps the patties from shrinking. They didn’t need much to top them off…tomatoes, pickles, a little grainy mustard and some relish.

For the salad dressing:

15ml/1T Dijon
15ml /1T sesame oil
30ml/2T orange juice

Whisk until smooth.

…You've Gotta Break a Few Eggs

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We got up early yesterday…lots to do! We fueled up with a delicious omelette – all fresh and local. Eggs, a yellow pepper, green onions, shiitakes, and a little shred of cheddar.