Tag: spring

Making a Hash of Breakfast

20130505-082849.jpgThis time of year, it gets easier and easier to eat local food, even on the chilly windswept coast. Greens and hardy veg are growing in the garden in our cold frames, and hothouse peppers are making an appearance. With all the beauty and deliciousness of the garden, it is work (and lots of it), especially a first year garden like ours. So we feel fully justified in eating a breakfast that has too many calories for a regular workday.

For two:

Half a small orange pepper
1 stalk celery
1 small diced onion
2 diced potatoes
4 Cremini mushrooms
2 Cavicchi’s sausage patties, made into tiny meatballs
2 large eggs

Cook the vegetables in a nonstick or cast iron skillet with about 5ml/1 tsp olive oil. Lidding the pan will help the potatoes soften. Stir once or twice. When the potatoes are nearly tender, sprinkle the sausage balls on top and cover, allow them to sit on low heat until the sausage are cooked (2-3 minutes). Stir. Crack the eggs on top, cover, and cook until the eggs are done as you like.enjoy. We did!

Out to Pasture

It’s coming! Spring has nearly sprung. Today we were at the Halifax Seaport Market and picked up a delicious steak from Pasture Hill Farm. That, with a few blue fingerlings and a salad seemed like it would be a heavenly choice. We were just tallying up our purchases and we spotted them: local grape tomatoes from Den Haan’s. I wish there was a recipe here, but this is it: grill steak, boil potato, make salad, dream of sprong

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Just Poachy!

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It looks like spring but feels like winter this morning. What a glorious burst of sun. So what better way to start the day than with a breakfast stack like this one: whole wheat English muffin, Rowe Farms ham, fresh yellow Ontario hothouse tomato, all topped with a fresh poached egg.

Vegetarian Delight

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In preparation of the coming onslaught of hot cross buns and bunny cake, we’ve been sticking to the straight and narrow, diet-wise. Fortunately this isn’t much of a sacrifice when we have great recipes like Kozlik’s delicious mustard chickpeas.

We made a few substitutions but it’s easy to do that with their versatile recipe. A little avocado in orange juice is a nice sidebar.

Get Grilling!

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Despite the recent cold snap, grilling season is ramping up once again. This weekend we picked up these delicious chops from Rowe Farms, as well as a mixed bag of organic veg.

To cook veg in a packet is foolproof! Take two layers of foil, and put sliced veg of almost any variety (we had carrots, spinach, radish, onion, sweet potato…). Toss with a little olive oil and herbs of your choice. Wrap it up tightly and put it on the grill while it’s heating. Continue to cook, turning occasionally, until chops, steaks, or burgers are done.

Luck of the Irish

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It’s been said that St. Patrick’s Day was given to the Irish as a break from the sacrifices of Lent. Whether or not that’s true, one thing is for certain: around here St. Patrick’s Day means Boiled Dinner. Whether the family gathering is large or small, we cook a bit pot of corned beef with onions, carrots, potatoes and cabbage. Somehow no matter how much meat is set aside to make hash the next morning, it is somehow stolen by leprechauns and only the vegetables remain. Still, they make a lovely soup, combined with the cream left over from the Guinness cake.

Slainte!

Walkable Poached Eggs

Sunday morning, feeling lazy. We had a meal plan but it was organized on a day when we weren’t overtired, and were feeling extra energetic. Sunday came, and we just wanted to chill. What to do?

We had some great organic whole wheat English muffins in the cupboard. We also had some delicious Green Valley eggs from Rowe Farms (we got them at Better Bulk). There was an end of some ash-coated cheese from Montforte Dairy.

So, we toasted the muffins. Sliced the cheese thin and put it on the hot muffins so it could wilt a little. Meanwhile, we poached the eggs. We sprinkled the whole thing with some French tarragon, which was growing in the urban farm. (We didn’t start it from seed – we bought it from Mimi’s convenience, around the corner).

That, and a hot cup of coffee will get you Sunday morning heaven. (Okay, that and church – which we had plenty of energy for, after a breakfast like this!)

Pork Chops Grilled Right

Pork Chops on the barbecue are an acquired art. It’s so easy to char them to a cinder, or dry them out, or undercook. (Mom would say, “either a burnt offering, or a bloody sacrifice”). But Steve’s got it down to an art. I admit it, I’ll cook almost anything. And gender lines are pretty well meaningless when it comes to division of work around here. But there are two territories where we never cross the line. I don’t grill, and his only involvement in breadmaking the occasional dough-watching or ingredient selection.

These ones turned out delectably moist and tasty as usual. The secret, he says, is patience. And not flipping too early. A good lesson in many endeavours.

Summertime Grilled Asparagus

It’s starting to taste a lot like summer…it might be a spring vegetable in some parts, but it takes ages before we reliably see it here. When we do, we like cooked almost any way at all. But probably our favourite is with some lemon zest and juice, a little pepper, a clove of garlic, and some olive oil. Toss it on the grill and voila, it’s magic!

Farmers' Market Season has Arrived!

Now I know summer is really going to get here! The East Lynn Park Farmers’ Market is finally open.

Clearly the farmers have had the same problems we’ve had with the garden – cool temperatures, and not enough sun. But there were a few early veggies to be had, and some rhubarb. As for us, we bought a delicious looking rack of lamb from the Belanger brothers, Peter & Josh. By the time we arrived their veg were pretty well sold out.

We also swung by Montforte and picked up some cheese – oh, what a surfeit of delicious dairy flavours. Today we went for an oozing packet of ripe deliciousness (camembert?) with herbs, and some nice hard cheese for grating.

Last stop, Better Bulk for some whole wheat flour – gotta get some bread going before the heat returns. It’s going to be a tasty week.