Tuna Melts with French Flair

In just barely more time than it takes to assemble and slice sandwiches, you can have this delicious tuna melt, to warm you on a chilly day near the coast. Makes 3 or 4:

3-4 slices of multigrain toast (not buttered)
1 can tuna in water, drained, and mixed with
1 diced tomato
15 ml Dijon
15 ml mayonnaise

Preheat broiler to high. Make the filling and put it on the toast. Grate over top, a thin layer of Comté cheese (aged cheddar works well also). Voilà, a satisfying lunch for 2.

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Around the Corner from Nice

20130606-071912.jpg Our dinner plans were foiled. A couple of days ago we picked up some fresh green beans and a piece of salmon, expecting to make a slight twist on the classic Salade Niçoise. But some twists of fate kept the recipe off the menu for three days, and third-day fish is never a good idea. The beans weren’t looking so hot, either.

Not deterred, we gathered a basket of greens from the garden – tender turnip greens, arugula, spinach, chard, beets, and a few kinds of lettuce. Some pretty French radish. It would be enough. We made do with some good-quality canned tuna, a red pepper (locally hothouse grown) and free range eggs. Olives and a Dijon lemon dressing rounded out the meal. How can you be anything but grateful in the season when home gardens are springing to life with delicious surprises every day?

Our (Toast) Cup Runneth Over

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What a weekend! Yesterday we installed the first of two new cold frames in the garden. We’re very excited to see what produce we’ll be able to grow in the first year of this new plot. Certainly we have many, many seedlings started, but the wild card will be the animals. No more raccoons, but certainly squirrels, crows, and we hear, deer.

After a day of house and yard work, it was a perfect evening of barbecue with good friends. We’ve awoken to a glorious sunny day with the sun glinting off the bay. How can you feel anything but grateful. So in celebration, a special breakfast – toast cups with tarragon mustard, Cavicchi’s sausage, jumbo poached egg, and some sliced tomato. Bring on the gardening!

Eating the Dragon

20130303-121926.jpg. Last night was The Man’s birthday and we celebrated with a prime rib roast. Today, the leftovers are in a redux of last week’s grilled salad:

Per plate:

Two good handfuls of baby greens
60-120g of sliced roast beef
Drizzling of sun-dried tomato dressing
15-30 ml of Dragon’s Breath Blue, crumbled over top

Nothing left to do but to enjoy!

Warm and Filling

20121210-210907.jpg The first winter storm threatened with its presence today. Hard, driving rain and wind, mixed with a little snow. The kind of howling night that makes you want comfort food. But after a day of work, how can slow food be not so slow?

We had some delicious white beans, pre-cooked, in the freezer. A couple of pork chops. And some San Marzano tomatoes. We put the chops in a casserole, topped with the beans and chopped rosemary. Over that, a couple of tomatoes each, and a little juice. More rosemary and pepper.

After 45 minutes in a 400F oven, covered, a delicious tender dinner was waiting. We finished the plates with a handful of greens. Pure comfort.

Smoked Salmon Sunday

20121202-084243.jpg Yesterday was Christmas tree day…the local Lions Club had set up shop in the parking lot of our nearby grocery store. We stopped first for some provisions, including some delicious-looking peppered smoked salmon, from St. Mary’s Bay.

So this morning, surrounded by the gorgeous smell of balsam fir in the house, we made smoked salmon bennies on homemade English muffin loaf. We’re all set for a day of decorating. On a day like this how can we help but feel grateful?

Peachy Pancakes

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We’re heading down to the Valley today, to visit 99-year-old Grammy Hergett. So it seemed fitting to start the day with pancakes that remind us of the ones she used to make. We’ve updated the recipe (see our Whole Wheat Pancakes in the recipe tab) but kept all of the taste. Today we served them with Mom’s home-canned peaches and a little Greek-style yogurt.

How Tourtière Turned my New Neighbourhood into Home

Christmastime at our house always involves tourtière, usually on Christmas Eve, after Mass. The year we moved to the walkablefeast Neighbourhood, I went shopping at Royal Beef for my ingredients. I didn’t see any ground pork, so I asked the butcher. And do you know what he asked me? “Are you making tourtière ?” and ” What mix with the beef, 50-50? Because I can just make that up for you.”

Those are the sort of touches that make you know you’re at home, even if your “real” home is miles away. And they’re also what make you want to be a small shop shopper, and turn in your big box membership forever.