Simple Summer Sides...

Local and seasonal food has always been with us. Yes, you can't avoid it at the moment with 100 mile diets and seasonal cookbooks galore but the fact is, if you ask any farmer, that's how they have always eaten. It wasn't until I came to this area that I had ever eaten corn (on the cob as we Brits call it!) I had eaten an insipid version before but the difference was night and day - much like the way people feel about heirloom tomatoes. To me, seasonal should be simple. It is the time of year when just the produce itself is so flavourful that I can't bear to load it down with lots of spices and added flavourings. We may have to do that in the winter, but right now, the fruit or vegetable itself is enough.

A case in point is the scary white potato salads you see sold in stores- again a new and slightly alarming experience for me. I guess people eat it out of nostalgia, or because that's what they're used to? For me a potato should taste, well, like a potato... earthy and sweet.

With this in mind, my current favourite side dish is a really simple potato salad. With just four ingredients it's a doddle to make. The potato stays as the star of the show but is subtly highlighted by the soft and sharp flavours of the dressing.

It will take you about 5 minutes to make the dressing. add on the time the potatoes take to cook and you're done. You can serve it warm or cold and it will keep in a fridge for up to 4 days. let it come to room temperature before having it if you can so the flavours aren't chilled out of it.

Mustard Potato Salad

• 3lbs new potatoes
• 3tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• Juice of one lemon
• 3 green onions chopped- including the green!

Cook the potatoes in a large pan of salted water. Don't cut them up, they will keep their flavour much better if boiled whole.

Whisk together the mustard, olive oil and lemon juice, chop the green onions.

Drain the potatoes and leave them to cool down for a few minutes. at this point you can chop any larger ones.

Toss everything together and leave to cool to room temperature

You don't need me to tell you how versatile this dish could be- BBQ's, pizzas, picnics, salad buffets, there isn't a summer meal that wouldn't become just that little bit better with a dish of this salad! 

Enjoy

Fiddlehead (or anything) Quiche

This year I decided I would bite the bullet and try some fiddleheads. We don’t get them in Britain so the first time I saw them was six years ago when I emigrated to Canada. To me, they look like the bracken plants of my childhood, which are toxic and therefore to be avoided. I have no reasoning behind this, but I always assumed fiddleheads would be bitter. But Jackie Durnford at the 100 Mile store in Creemore assured me they were really mild, “a little bit like asparagus,” she said. Jackie also told me they could be very soggy when cooked.

My son has a market stall at the Creemore Farmers’ Market where he sells savoury baked goods. He makes an asparagus, pea and mint quiche that is delicious. Going by Jackie’s asparagus comparison, surely fiddleheads would work equally well? I set to making a tester quiche. If the fiddleheads were mild then they would need a bit of a kick to give flavour, so I decided to get some old cheddar to add into the filling. To guard against sogginess, I didn’t cook the fiddleheads at all, just rinsed and thoroughly dried them. I am happy to report the quiche was a complete success! Based on the theory of “time before total disappearance” that exists in my house, it scored a 10 (minutes).

Although of course fiddleheads are now sadly over for the season, I thought it worthwhile to give you the quiche recipe. It’s simple and can be adapted to any filling that works in a creamy egg base. Just make the egg and cream filling, pour into the base and add your choice of additions. Some asparagus, pea and mint, some chopped cooked bacon, cooked sliced mushrooms, any greens (wild leeks, nettles, green garlic) and cheese (about 50g to 75g of cheese per quiche if adding with another ingredient, slightly more if on it’s own. Blue cheese or goat’s cheese are a good choices.

If you are gluten intolerant, I suggest you forgo the pastry. Grease your pie plate – or even better use a silicon one. Make the filling up as below, bake for 20 minutes at 350 F, and enjoy a kind of set omelette!

Fiddlehead (or Anything) Quiche

PUBLISHED: May 28, 2012

(apologies for the grams – British girl!)

INGREDIENTS

Quiche base

• 280g all-purpose flour
• 140g cold butter
• Cold water

Filling

• 2 large eggs
• 280ml cream
• (Additions: asparagus, wild leeks, nettles, fiddleheads, garlic scapes, bacon, ham, your favourite cheese, etc.)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put into a food processor and blast until the butter is totally mixed in. No large lumps should be visible. Alternatively, rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until it looks like rough breadcrumbs.
2. Add a tiny bit of cold water, a little at a time, mixing it into the flour and butter until the mixture comes together into dough. I do this with my hands as it’s easier to tell if it is getting too sticky that way.
3. You can let it cool in the fridge if you wish, I have to admit I don’t bother, but if it is sticky then 20 minutes in the fridge will help.* Roll out bigger than your chosen pan then place in gently, pushing it down all around. Put a sheet of baking parchment over it and pour ceramic beans (or dried peas/ beans if you don’t have those) over the parchment to weigh it down and stop the pastry bubbling up. Bake for 20 minutes at 350F. Take the quiche shell out, remove the parchment and beans and pour in your filling.
4. Mix eggs and cream together well and pour into the quiche shell, adding your chosen veg, meat and cheese.
5. Bake at 350F again for around 20 minutes or until the centre is no longer liquid. It should wobble slightly like jelly.

NOTES

*If you have added too much water, don’t add tons of flour. This will make the pastry tough. Add a little flour then lay down on your rolling surface a sheet of Cling wrap. Put your pastry on it and put another sheet of cling wrap on top. You can then roll out the pastry sandwiched between the sheets of wrap and your rolling pin won’t stick to it. The pastry won’t stick to your worktop either!

Cut and Dried Flower Farm

 

Katie here from Cut and Dried Flower Farm!! It’s planting time again and we are really looking forward to this Saturday’s season opener! Chris, along with our kids Rosalyn, Daniel and Ben will be bringing a selection of hanging baskets, planters, perennials, veggies and herbs, including a large range of heritage tomatoes. All plants are home grown on our farm here, located just outside Glencairn.  

We have been attending Creemore Farmers Market since its early beginnings 15? years ago and still enjoy attending just as much as we did all those years ago. We love meeting and chatting with our customers and have enjoyed watching the market grow into a vibrant meeting place that it is today. 

Cut and Dried Flower Farm is open every day until June 10th, 9am to 5pm. We welcome you to visit our farm – our market selection is only a tiny representation of what we grow. Check out our website at www.cutdriedflowerfarm.com for more information on our plants. On our website, you can sign up to receive our e newsletters with regular updates on new plants, farm news, gardening tips and more! 

Here's a Tomato Salad recipe to make later in the year when your tomato plants are ready!

There's truly nothing that tastes better than a home grown tomato picked fresh from the vine!

Enjoy this salad when your tomatoes are at their best in the summer!

There are really no quantities, just keep it simple to let the true fresh flavours shine through.

A selection of fresh tomatoes - try to include a variety of sizes, shapes and colours. The more variety the better.

• Olive oil
• Fresh basil
• Fresh parsley
• Fresh ground pepper
• Optional
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Pine nuts

1. Prepare tomatoes - cut up large ones and leave cherries whole. 

2. Add rest of ingredients, mix and serve

You can also use this mix to top fresh bread to create bruschetta. Just lightly toast the slices and set out on the table. Let your guests spoon the tomato mixture on top.....

Thanks for a successful Easter market!

 A huge thank you to all the vendors and customers, old and new, who came together on Saturday for our first market of the year. The market was very busy with some vendors having their best market ever!

We are very grateful to the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance  for featuring us on the front page of their website and for all the tweets our customer's posted on Twitter. For those of you not aware we are @CreemoreFM.

Of course everyone wanted to know who won the chocolate gift basket.

It went to an extremely lucky and a bit overwhelmed Eve Martin, age 4!

We reckon that she could have a year's supply of chocolate there- although her sister seemed very keen to offer her some help in the disposal of it!!

Apologies for the quality of the photograph - Eve and family turned up just as we were closing, so a rather hurried shot had to be taken using a cell phone

Our next market wil be our season opener on May 19th. Focus on gardening. There will be free giveaways including seeds and we are in discussions with local gardening author to attend- watch this space for further details.... We look forward to seeing you then

Curried Carrot Soup from Fiddlefoot Farm

Enjoy this delicious recipe from the lovely Amy at Fiddlefoot Farm www.fiddlefootfarm.com

As Amy says "Enjoy this warming soup with the last of the carrots from the root cellar or the first ones from the garden in the early summer.  Either way, it's delicious! "

Amy and Graham are offering a full CSA program (boxes of Veggies every week for those who are unaware of the program) this year. For more details visit their website and guarantee yourself amazing produce all summer

Curried Carrot Soup

1 Tablespoon canola oil 

2 teaspoons curry powder 

1 medium clove garlic, minced 

1 (1/2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and minced

1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped 

1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds 

1 medium bay leaf 

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth 

1/2 cup canned coconut milk or cream 

Toasted unsweetened coconut flakes or pumpkin seeds, for garnish (optional) 

 

1) Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When oil shimmers, add curry powder and garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 

2) Add ginger, onion, carrots, bay leaf, and broth, increase heat to medium high, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer until carrots are soft when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf. 

3) Working in batches in a blender or with an immersion blender, process soup until smooth. (Be very careful when blending the hot soup, as steam could blow off the blender lid.) 

4) Pour soup into a clean pot and return to the stove over medium heat. Stir in coconut milk and adjust seasoning as needed. Garnish with a few flakes of toasted coconut, if using. 

Note: This soup can be served hot or cold. If you’re serving it cold, you may need to thin it with a little water.  Either way, let the soup sit for at least ½ an hour before serving to allow the flavours to come together. 

Enjoy!