Canada Day BBQ for Beef eaters, Vegans, and Vegetarians on CBC's Weekend Morning Show!

Happy Canada Day on July 1st!  While you are planning on your BBQ, remember the wonderful beef that we have here locally, as well as the vegans and vegetarians who will inevitably also wish to partake of the celebrations.  :)  

I am presenting the following dishes for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with Host Nadia Kidwai.  The lovely Sirloin Steak Beef from Manitoba Beef was perfect for kebabs. This is available on Saturday at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market as well as the quinoa from Tamarack Farms for the Quinoa Sweet Potato vegan burgers.  If you are looking to keep completely Gluten-Free, use their quinoa flour in place of panko.  The grilled eggplant is wonderful for so many events.  You can find locally grown eggplant now at Vic's Fruit Market on Pembina and at Schreimer's Greenhouses.

Happy Canada Day!  Enjoy!

(Quinoa Sweet Potato burgers)

  
(Marinating beef kebabs)

Turkish Beef Kebab

1 lb thinly sliced beef or lamb (Today was Manitoba Beef�s Sirloin Steak, available at the St. Norbert�s Farmer�s Market on Saturday)

1 onion, grated

1 medium tomato, grated

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp dry mint

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

� cup olive oil *

1 cup red wine

If meat is a tough cut, you may pound the thinly sliced beef.  Mix all ingredients together and let marinate overnight of for several hours.

Skewer the meat and grill over high heat, turning.  Let meat rest and serve with yoghurt tahini sauce, grilled vegetables and Afghani Naan. (available fresh at Millad�s on Notre Dame).

Quinoa Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers (adapted from Bonappetit, January 2016)

1 small sweet potato
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 portobello mushroom (or 5-8 crimini mushrooms)
� small zucchini
1 small shallot, finely chopped
� teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup cooked quinoa (from about � uncooked) (Tamarack Farms available at St. Norbert�s Farmer's Market and Downtown Hydro Market)
� cup dried breadcrumbs (panko)
1� teaspoons fresh lemon juice
4 Pretzel or Sourdough Brioche (Available at Old Church Bakery at St. Norbert�s Farmer�s Market

Guacamole, tomato chutney, sprouts, etc.

Wash and prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork and place on a paper towel in the microwave for 3-5 minutes, until soft, depending on the microwave.  Fastest and easiest method and won�t heat up your kitchen with the oven.

Remove the skin from the sweet potato and mash the flesh with a fork.  Set aside.

Grate zucchini and mushrooms.  Heat a small skillet with olive oil and cook shallot with pepper flakes until translucent.  Add zucchini and mushrooms and cook until moisture has been released.  Transfer to a bowl with cooked quinoa (1 1/2 cups water : 1 cup quinoa, boil, stir and simmer for 15 minutes).  Season and mix with salt and pepper.  Let cool.

Add breadcrumbs (panko), lemon juice and about 1/4 cup of mashed sweet potato, adding more as a binder as needed.

Divide mixture into 4 portions and form into patties.  Heat 2 tbs oil in a medium skillet on medium heat and cook 2 patties at a time, until golden brown.

Serve burgers with Old Church Bakery pretzel buns or Sourdough Brioche with your favourite toppings, guacamole, tomato chutney, etc.

Enjoy!

Patli�an Yog�rtl�

1 lg eggplant sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 c plain yogurt
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt

Slice and salt eggplant and let sit in a bowl of cold water. If eggplant is very young, skip the step of salt and water. Rinse and squeeze out water from slices.

Mince garlic and stir into yoghurt with salt.

Saut� eggplant slices on medium high heat until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan and let sit for a moment on a paper towel. Place on platter and top with yoghurt mixture. Sprinkle rubbed oregano and paprika over yoghurt. Top with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with baguette slices or water crackers.

Enjoy!

Thursday, July 13th - Join us for a fun and informative evening about Burnaby Food First's Sharing Backyards Program

Passionate Palmer Pops | Popsicle Week 2017

It�s Wit and Vinegar�s WORLD FAMOUS POPSICLE WEEK! The hottest (yet, chilliest/chillest) week of the year! Check out the 2017 popsicle week page for a plethora of pops. Some are covered in toasted marshmallow (!), some are made with pudding, others are boozy and fruity, a few have chunks of cake in them. And this, my friends, is mine: The Passionate Palmer Pop�. 

It�s a sordid love affair, a steamy (yet frosty) summer romance between everyone�s favorite non-alcoholic drink named after a golfer, the Arnold Palmer, and the tangy sweet tropical seductress, Passionfruit. We�re talkin� sweet and sour, sticky and melty, and as refreshing as a glass of iced tea on a hot summer day. We have intrigue. We have temptation. We have PASSION. And tea and lemon. We have passionfruit Arnold Palmers (tea + lemonade combo) in one cool, frozen package. 

My sister and I were throwing out popsicle flavor ideas, and when we landed on passionfruit Arnold Palmers, and the name Passionate Palmers, we laughed hysterically. Partially because we think we�re hilarious no matter what we say, but mostly because we had an 8th grade teacher named Mrs. Palmer, who also happened to be the mom of one of my best friends growing up. Like the true middle schoolers we are at heart, it�s just funny saying passionate + a teacher�s name. RIGHT!? (Is this the part where we make the calculator say boobs*?) #growupalready. 

I had to search pretty far and wide to find any sort of passionfruit anything. Seattle has no passion. When I was about to give up, I got over my hating-tourist-season-at-the-market infliction, and tried Pike Place Market, and of course, found everything I needed: frozen passion fruit pulp and whole passionfruit fruits. The whole passionfruit is fun because it adds some fresh flavor and the cute crunchy seeds, but if you can�t find them, the frozen pulp will do. I found mine at the Mercado Latino, the Latin grocery at Pike Place. When it doubt, try a Hispanic/ Latin grocery. I used the Goya brand frozen pulp, which is 100% passion fruit pulp (no sweetener, etc). If you can�t find that, my next suggestion would be passionfruit nectar or juice (Goya also has one, or try a Hawaiian brand�look for lilikoi instead of passionfruit), but don�t add extra sweetener to the pops, as those drinks are usually pretty sweet. And if all of the above fails, and you live in a passionless pit, I think pureed mango would be pretty good here too!  

Don�t forget to visit Billy�s #popsicleweek page to enjoy fun pops all summer long!

Passionate Palmer pops (passionfruit arnold palmer popsicles) 

Makes ~10 standard sized popsicles

2 cups water 4 tea bags (basic black tea, like Lipton) 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from approx.  2 whole lemons) 2 tablespoons maple syrup 2/3 cup frozen passionfruit puree/ pulp 2 whole passionfruit

Boil water, then steep tea bags for about 10 minutes, until you have a dark, strong tea (but not like, impossible to consume dark). You can either simmer the bags in a pot with the water, or just boil, remove from heat, and steep, covered. Chill tea until cool (in refrigerator, or over an ice bath). While tea is chilling, cut open both whole passionfruit, and scoop the insides (seeds and all, they�re edible!) into the bottom of each of your popsicle molds. Freeze until solid, about 20 minutes. Add lemon juice, maple syrup, and passionfruit puree to chilled tea (Note: the frozen passionfruit comes pretty solid. To use it, I first broke it up and added it, with a splash of water, to the blender, just to get it to loosen up to a thick soft-serve, sorbet like consistency. You could also just try thawing it like a normal patient person). Whisk or stir until combined. Taste, and add more maple syrup as needed (depending on how sour/tangy versus sweet you like it). Pour mixture into popsicle molds, over frozen passionfruit. Insert sticks and freeze until solid.

*Speaking of 8th grade and boobs... my mom, sister, and I recently reminisced about the time I tried to stuff my bra (with wadded up tissues) for a middle school dance, and as my friend and I were leaving the house, my mom SO EMBARRASSINGLY, IN FRONT OF MY FRIEND, told me to take it out! I died a thousand angsty deaths. But in hindsight, I think she did me a huge favor: 
    Amanda: How'd you know she stuffed? Were they too big?
    Mom: No, they were just super lumpy and weird shaped!

Homemade Acai Bowl

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I've been on an Acai Bowl kick as of late.  If you are what you eat, then I am a bowl of slushy, fruity goodness.  Funny thing is, I didn't even know how to pronounce the word 'acai'  a few months ago.  It was probably my hesitation in ordering one.  "Um, can I have an a-key... a-kay... a-kie... never mind."  WELL GUESS WHAT FOLKS.  It doesn't matter how you say it because it's delicious (but in case you're wondering, it's 'ah-SIGH-eee').  

Only problem with binging on these bowls?  They're expensive!  So I decided to make one at home.  

First, I found these packets at Whole Foods...  

Then, I gathered up a few more ingredients... almond milk for blending, granola, organic honey, blueberries, unsweetened coconut, sliced banana and raspberries.  

I took one and a half packets of the acai and blended it with 1/4 cup of almond milk.  I layered the bowl with granola and coconut, added the acai, then topped it all with more granola, coconut, berries, banana and drizzled everything with honey.  

Yummy.  The consistency was a bit runny (so maybe next time I'd add less almond milk or possibly some almond butter for thickness).  But I'm glad I've found a cheaper version I can make at home!

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

My dear, sweet, loving husband was born on June 22nd.  That is today, in fact!  Happy Birthday Carson!!!  (He won't read this.)  Anyway.  If you are unfamiliar with June 22nd (weird thing to say), it is the day after the first day of summer.  It is often the last day of school for many.  And, AND, it happens to be VERY close to Father's Day.  One year, the two dates were actually one day apart.  Why am I writing things that are obvious?  Because I'm trying to justify my lack of enthusiasm for baking two cakes for two great occasions in such a short (busy) period of time.  

  That's why this year, I tried to combine things that I know Carson loves (mainly ice cream and the chocolate/peanut butter combo) in a dessert that was very easy to pull off.  Enter this ice cream cake: a mouth-watering crowd pleaser that anyone can throw together, and I mean ANYONE (especially if you have kids willing to unwrap all the peanut butter cups in exchange for one or two or five).   

It begins with an Oreo crust... yes, I said that.  One whole package of Oreos, crushed together, combined with melted butter and pressed into a cake pan.  Then, the ice cream.  Best part?  You can choose your favorite flavor, brand, make your own, etc.  I decided to layer my cake with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and a Vanilla Bean (this brand).  There is hot fudge and crushed peanut butter cups in between the two layers, more hot fudge on the top, and MORE crushed cups on top of that.  All that's really time consuming is letting your layers melt in between, but I think at the end of the day... we all have patience for that.  After all, ice cream cake is worth the wait.  As would my husband's birthday be if he could move it just... you know... a weeeee bit further away from Father's Day.   

Full cake recipe here.  (But again, modify it to your liking!)

Chicken Marsala

Oh, June.  June... you are a nutty, nutty month.  You are living la vida loca, and yes, I am still living in 1999.  I am also still living in a world where June means summer... not recitals, teacher gifts, preschool graduations and camp registrations because, oh right, I'm a mom now and not a teenager living at the turn of the century listening to Ricky Martin.  It's just that when I was a kid June used to symbolize the beginning of summer, and now it feels like the end of so much.  Perhaps that's because I'm an emotional wreck about my kids growing up and my daughter starting elementary school next year with her big bro.  Time is speeding by, and this time of year is making me nostalgic for simpler times... when a new Backstreet Boys song was all I really cared about.  

Maybe I'm feeling this way because my mom has been staying with us for a few weeks and the other night she cooked dinner.  This always causes me to feel a bit like a teenager.  (By the way, does anyone else have a child that says "a bit" all of the time because Peppa Pig is everywhere??)  As much as I love to cook, there is nothing better than someone taking over every once in awhile.  That particular night, she made us a Chicken Marsala which was delicious!  It felt like comfort food but tasted light and refreshing - like something you could eat again and again. 

She followed this recipe :)

Stay tuned later this week for an epic ice cream cake!           

Easy BBQ Feast for Father's Day! On CBC's Weekend Morning Show

Yesterday I had the joy of presenting some new ideas that I'm developing for the market, in time to enjoy for Father's Day, on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Nadia Kidwai.

The lovely beef striploin came from Wildfire Farms and the pizza dough is available on market days at Old Church Bakery.  Easy and delicious!  The rub is a Baharat (spice blend) that I've added ground pumpkin seeds and smoked paprika to to make a Manitoba version of Duq'qah, an Egyptian spice and ground nut blend for meats and flatbreads.  I'll be bringing this to market very soon.

For the flatbread, 1 bag pizza dough from Old Church Bakery, divide into 2-4 pieces and, with a bowl of water to wet the fingers, pull and spread onto a silpat or parchment papers.  Spread a spoonful of the Duq'qah onto each flatbread, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake in a 450�F oven or on a hot grill until done, 4-7 minutes, depending on oven or grill. 

For the steaks, in order to get a crust, lightly coat each steak with Dijon mustard and then coat with the Duq'qah.  Season with a slight amount of salt.  Prior to grilling, drizzle olive oil on each steak.  Grill to preferred doneness, I recommend rare, but...  Let the meat rest for about 5 minutes before slicing. 

I topped these flat breads and steak slices with a bit of onion jam, but garnish as you like.