3 local food ideas for your St. Patrick's Day smorgasboard

Tired of beer-based recipes for your Irish-inspired meal?  The following recipes are tried and true in our kitchen, and could give your St. Patrick's Day menu some festive flair.  Even better, you'll be able to incorporate seasonally available ingredients, some of which you can even grow yourself.

1. Homegrown green (sprouts)
Let's start with this guest post I did a few days ago on Foodies in Quebec.  Growing your own sprouts is a frugal way to incorporate highly nutritious fresh greens into your winter diet and into your St. Patrick's Day salad.  Watching roots develop is also a great "science" project, regardless of your age.  Since sprouting your own sprouts is really easy, it is a great activity for kids.  

How to: Click here for my 5 simple steps to growing your own sprouts.

6 easy ways to make the best of too many apples...

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, we shouldn't need an appointment for years.  

This autumn, we maintained an annual tradition - harvesting well over 100 (yes, one hundred) pounds of apples from a local orchard, hauling them home, and then standing over them in the kitchen wondering why on earth we needed so many.

My first plant(s)

What was your first plant or plant memory?

I don't actually remember my first plant, or my second.  I am sure though, as a small girl, that I claimed some plants in our garden, sprouted potatoes and avocado pits in school, and so on.  Recently, this writing prompt from urban gardening guru Gayla Trail, provoked some thoughtful reminiscing. 

What I do remember about the "early" plants is divided  into two categories - indoor plants and outdoor plants.  I didn't know much about either for the first two decades of my life.

Sketchbook: in the raw

Lately, I've been trying to capture the character of various raw ingredients found in the kitchen. 

Tricks for tasty pumpkin treats

This post is part of "When Artists Cook," a series in which I am a guest writer.

View my other posts in the series:  When Artists Cook.

What's your favorite way of 

eating pumpkins and other squashes?

‘Tis the season to remember that throwing away good food is truly spooky! Here’s a couple tricks for some tasty treats:

The autumn garden - winding down and planning ahead

What do you do to extend your gardening season, 

or get a running start on next year?

Adapted from article published in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (10.10.2012)

The autumn garden might seem deceptively devoid of activity, but many simple projects can help gardeners enjoy extended harvests now and less work next growing season.

When frost chills the air and leaves begin to glow, gardeners usually resign themselves to clean-up and harvest preservation. However, autumn is an ideal time to put creativity to work, both to extend this growing season and for a head start on the next.

Most years, I dream, scheme, transplant, and mulch like crazy - trying to deny winter's finality as much as possible. Thanks to years of gardening experience, and reading everything I could get my hands on, I've gleaned some tips which are effective in holding the 'last harvest' at bay. In the following QCT article, I've outline a few of my favorites - simple, accessible, and viable for most growing zones.

When Artists Cook: Harvest Abundance (and what to do about it)

This post is part of "When Artists Cook," a series in which I am a guest writer.

My previous posts in the series: "Coming of age in kitchens"

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Harvest season always fills me with ________________________ .  

How would you fill in that blank?

. . .

I’ve been mulling this over for the past month or so, as the garden peaks, the farmers markets flood with produce, and I write and rewrite the list of things to preserve for the winter. [ . . .]  I tend to get a little ahead of myself when it comes to harvesting and preserving.  By that I mean, there’s no limit for me.  It’s never enough.  As long as there is a nook or cranny in the house that is reasonably stable in temperature, and not exposed to much light, I am interested in filling it with food that will keep through, or at least into, the winter.
[ . . . ]

Having a hands-on relationship with our food is one of my absolute favorite things about the mayhem that is harvest season. The kitchen is aswarm with fruit flies, which one cheeky friend describes as “indicators of abundance,” and the occasional stow-away earwig always shows up in the least expected corner. But, even when I’m busy picking snails out of the beet greens, or scrubbing tomato splatters off of...well, everywhere, this is still about as real as it gets.

. . . Keep reading - - >

Simply 'plummy'

 

We didn't even notice the trees when we moved in, nearly two years ago.  In the spring, though, a profusion of flowers caught our attention, and our curiosity was piqued.  A few small, hard, green orbs left us less than satisfied at the end of last year.  In fact, we wondered then if the trees were just ornamental.

But, the 'jammy' sweetness of spring blossoms raised my expectations again this year.  And, what a year it was!

Canning tips to help savour summer flavour year ‘round

Is anyone else canning up a storm? Or wondering where to start? 

We've had a lot of people asking us how/why we do what we do, 

so here's a response to the questions. 

Canning is not just for grandmas or war efforts any more.  As self-sufficiency re-gains popularity, people of all ages are re-learning traditional skills. According to National Public Radio, 43% of canners are between 18-34 years old. Not all fruit.root.leaf. readers will be surprised by that, as many of you are at least as enthusiastic about this project as we are.

However, one thing most home canners, myself included, agree upon is that safely preserving enough of the harvest to enjoy summer well into the cold weather requires some effort and planning. Whether this season will see your first canning endeavour, or you have a long tradition of canning, the enjoyment and satisfaction felt when you dine on the fruits of your labours make it worth it.  

Home grown, already!?

Adapted from article published in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (5.30.2012)

It might seem a tad too early in the season to be discussing local food, other than crab and lobsters here in Québec, or last year’s potatoes in Montana. However, local farms and gardens are already sprouting fresh local produce, and we can all take advantage of it. If you are shopping, this time of the year you could seek out local microgreens and salad greens. If you are gardening, there are a variety of things to look forward to in late spring.

Urban Gardening: Growing beyond the traditional backyard garden

Adapted from article published in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (04.25.2012)

Les Urbainculteurs roof-top garden, Quebec City

Urban gardening is not a novel concept, and is currently experiencing a global popular resurgence. Books, websites, blogs and television shows abound, all declaring the relative ease, satisfaction, and importance of growing your own fruit and vegetables. Using this information to start or improve a garden this year would be a great way to celebrate Earth Day (April 22) all season long. However, this tradition of backyard gardens and glut of media, in and of itself, may not be enough for you this season. 

“Faith in a seed”

Originally published in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (04.11.2012)

Seeds are incredible packages of life which possess a simple, almost magical capacity to transform from dry, pale specks into vibrant plants. Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.” He qualified this statement, saying “I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been.”

Your Garden - A key element in a local diet

Adapted from article originally published in Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (04.04.2012)

If you are interested in eating fresh, nutritious, tasty, and local food, gardening literally offers a hands-on approach. Successful gardening is rooted in an on-going learning process, in which planning plays a key role. Right now, the chilly days of early spring offer northern gardeners, novice and expert alike, a prime opportunity to plan for the 2012 growing season. Vegetable gardens, fruit patches, pots of culinary herbs, and taste buds will benefit from a few minutes of prep before the first seed is planted.

Four Seasons in Québec

 

We've now been here in Quebec City since the last week of January, which means we've seen the city in every season - not every month, but definitely in the depths of snowy winter, budding spring, the peak of summer and the abundance of autumn.  As we prepared our garden for winter last weekend, I was thinking about the differences between a cycle here and a cycle back "home".


We are heading back to Montana to have Thanksgiving (U.S.) with my family, and might get to squeeze in a little bit of hunting.  Given the prices of organic, free-range and/or local meat here, a little airport stress over a cooler of meat seems worth it.  The hunting system here in Québec has proven a bit too complicated for us to tackle this year.  Purchasing permits, etc. isn't that difficult, but it is costly.  The complicated part is the traditional, generational territoriality r.e. hunting areas.  Unless you know someone whose family has "rights" to an area, you pretty much can't find anywhere to hunt.  And, that means paying to gain access, which is out of the question for us.  

Bait apples, perfectly edible, for sale ($6.99/50lbs).
I told Jerod we should just buy them to make cider!

As an example, while paddling up the Rivière Batiscan in October, we were following the boundary between two Z.E.C.s - zone d'exploitation controlé.  Z.E.C.s are public land provincially managed as semi-private hunting areas, in which each hunter tends to already have a "claim" to inherited hunting territory.  Evidently, this is a province-wide tradition on 'public' property, as a 7 Nov. 2012 CBC story pointed out.  

In the case of a Z.E.C., users pay hunting access fees (a couple $100s), a vehicle fee ($10/vehicle), and an annual rental fee (another couple $100s).  As a result of this investment and generational conditioning, folks who have cabins in these Z.E.C.s appear to feel a strong sense of ownership for their areas.  


We encountered this head-on, upon paddling around one lazy corner of the river.  At the far end of an extensive curve sat a small cabin, shaded in larch and hardwood trees slowly turning gold.  A boat was moored at the edge of the river, and we could just make out small figures moving around beneath the trees.  They wore blaze orange, as did everyone else we saw all weekend.  As we worked our way further upstream, we heard a rifle shot from the general direction of the cabin, and thought, "Oh!  Someone must have got something.  Wonder if it was a moose?"  

We thought nothing more of it until we drew alongside the cabin, at which point two men settled into the canoe, threw on a motor we hadn't even noticed, and rumbled towards us.  Upon reaching us, the one steering the canoe began speaking very rapidly, almost nervously, in French.  Eventually, they pushed the motor to life again, paused to ask where we were from, commented that my Anglophone accent was "cute", and turned towards the shore.  We tried to follow the topic of the conversation, and thought we understood it alright.  


However, when our buddy, at whose cabin we were staying that weekend, relayed the details, we realized we were way off!  He told us that those guys had fired that shot to intimidate us!  They came out to push us off, thinking we were hunters trying to elbow in on their hunting territory!  Georges took it in stride, but that was a bit much for Jerod and I.  Perhaps our shocked response means we are "spoiled" by the wide open West, and associated notions of public access.  Regardless, this is certainly a distinctly different approach to public land and wildlife management.

Another thing that's fairly different is the lack of "free" fruit.  I looked hard this fall, but didn't find any gleaning options for the standard fruity goodies like apples, pears or apricots.  Perhaps that is due to the fact that we live in a much larger city (than Missoula, MT), perhaps because folks in the region still enjoy a viable market for their produce, or...?  We did find U-pick farms all around the city, though, and hit them hard for raspberries, blueberries and apples.  The blueberries were a delightful first for us, along with wild blueberries discovered out in the woods.  

We enjoyed one isolated moment of gleaning success, under the cover of a drizzly weekend afternoon.  We managed to glean a LOT of crab apples from a cluster of trees next to the soccer fields at a school down the street.  Another first, we made some pretty tasty crabapple-aid and applesauce from them.  But, as if to disabuse me of any romantic notions, the city reminded me this week that food-producing plants are far from sacred.  Two nights ago, walking home from work, I stopped hard in my tracks as I realized...they paved over the apple trees!  No kidding!  In the place of three picturesque late-autumn fruit trees, drooping with yellowed leaves and withering crab apples, there is now . . . fresh pavement enough to park two more cars.

Winter was overwhelmingly more snowy than Montana (or Arizona), and there were people on ice skates in every park.  Other than the custom-combine approach to snow removal, the weather was fairly similar to what we are used to.  We spent a hefty portion of it on snowshoes and cross-country skis.  Spring, with its literal thousands of tulips and other spring bulbs, felt like a vibrant colorful nod to my Dutch heritage.  May marked my first live lobsters, and that is a seasonal experience I look forward to repeating.  The start of the growing season was more or less in line with what we are used to, as was its progression.  It was lovely, in a lazy summer way, to take advantage of well over 30 inches of rain between May and October.  Certainly, the weeds loved it, too, but thanks to our co-operative approach (and the dedication of our friend Ann), even des mauvaises herbes were manageable.  We harvested and preserved as usual, canning pickles, tomatoes, apples and more.  Finally, apple butter was on the list of projects, as were pickled hot peppers.  We can't seem to stop eating both, and it is clear we should have made more.  As always, the beauty of a growing season is that there is always next year.

Having been here in all 4 seasons now, we would say late summer is the season to visit the city, and the surrounding still-rural villages.  You can stroll through Vieux Québec in the evening, under the soft glow of streetlights, and overhear the clink of wine glasses and soft live music coming from the countless terraces of des petits bistros et cafés.  You can stagger home from the farmers market or the garden laden with basil, tomatoes and nasturtiums, just about giddy with ideas for how to eat the abundance.  A short drive beyond the city yields small vergers (orchards), fermes (farms) and countless grandes églises (elaborate churches).  If you are going to sample the local specialty, poutin (french fries with cheese curds and a thin gravy), you should at least purchase it here, from a road-side stand along a country road.  We have a difference of opinions r.e. the merits of poutin.  In my opinion, you'll have a memory, at least.

Back in the city, the parks are alive with people and bursting with flowers, and the river is thick with sail boats, kayaks and windsurfers.  I know, Canadians are a winter-lovin' people, but summer here made me actually like living here.  Before summer, I felt like a visitor, and not just because we hadn't been here very long.  Something about the cold makes you feel insular, seul, with everyone bundled up and rushing past without a glance.  During this summer, we settled in and made the transition to habitants.

For the most part, we are enjoying Québec.  There are days when the language boundaries are really frustrating, but they aren't as intimidating as they were 10 months ago.  We've made solid progress in French, and that makes a world of difference.  Basic, and even mid-level complexity conversations are possible.  We have a "map" in our heads of the city - our favorite spots to go for local produce or on a run, and where we like to get a pint with friends.  We have found local nonprofit organizations that operate in English, and have started reading some of the news in French.  By this time next year, it is reasonable to expect we'll be capable of any communication necessary to facilitate a great vacation here.  Between the language, the history oozing from the stones, and the French-influenced habit of wine, cheese and bread, what are you waiting for?  Come visit sometime in August, eh?

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Last Days of Summer

Autumn looms, and we welcome the respite from heat and humidity.  Just as in Montana, though, it is a bittersweet time of year - the harvest rush, fitting in the last few outdoor activities while it still feels like summer, and resuming the more demanding pace that school, work and life demand after a leisurely summer.

Much of September has been occupied with food, which we have happily found in our backyard, down the street, across town, and out in la campagne (the countryside).  For more late summer fun, read these posts about Cap Rouge, the Cirque de Soleil, and the Centre-de-Québec.

Keep scrolling for photo highlights of recent menus- bon appetit!

Basil & Mint Yogurt Smoothie
(to use up basil left over after making pesto)

Pat-a-pan squash

Breakfast sandwich homestyle:
sourdough biscuit, zucchini & egg scramble 

Nasturtiums have been adding spice
to our salads all summer long.

St. Foy Farmers Market
(pronounced San Fwah) 

"Strata & tomatas"

Part of the 100lbs. of tomatoes now in jars in our cupboards

Fish tacos (all the fixin's from the garden)

Crabapple "lemonade" (fruit harvested just down the street)

First homemade mussels - yum!

Birthday breakfast on homemade ciabatta bread

Tickled...er rather "Pickled"...pink!

Today's favorite sound: the "POP!" of canning jar lids.  Today's favorite smell?  The sinus-clearing blast of just-boiled vinegar and salt as you ladel it into jars of dill and fresh green beans.  And of course, today's favorite color is...chartreuse.  In the world of canning, pickles are easy enough to be considered a "gateway" project.  If you are new to canning, we recommend you also read this post about canning basics.


To begin, there's really nothing pink about pickles (aside from optional red pepper flakes).  At least, there shouldn't be.  In all seriousness, if you ever have a jar of home-preserved food that has turned pink, don't eat it! For more about canning and food safety concerns, read our canning basics post.  

We always use recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.  This center is part of the Extension Services System (a cooperation of universities across the U.S.), and all their recipes have been lab-tested and adjusted to maximize food safety.  


Even better, their recipes are tasty, simple, and can easily be multiplied to meet the scale of your project.  For example, today's project involved a 20-pound bargain sack of green beans.  Given the concerns associated with low-acid food canning (i.e. vegetables, meats, etc.), we opted for pickling our beans.  Although the dill-pickled beans recipe is written for 4 pounds, it did not require complicated math to scale it up.  

The most complicated element of the whole effort turned out to be the attempt to locate fresh heads of dill (see photo to the right).  Our garden dill didn't do well this year, so we had to find another source.  Ultimately, we went to three grocery stores and two large farmers markets before finding one vendor who sold dill heads.  Evidently the majority of folks making pickles around here prefer the more subtle flavor of the dill greens over the PUNCH of the heads.  In fact, one farmer told us we'd have to purchase his entire 10-gallon bucket of dill (at a cost of ~$50) in order to get all the under-developed heads sparsely scattered throughout the greens!


The final equation:

Green beans ($9) + dill ($4) + vinegar ($2) + garlic ($4) + 24 lids ($3.98)  + 2 gals & 3 hours in the kitchen = 24 pints of pickled beans!

Now, pickled beans are not a typical grocery store item.  So, let's say you'd have to find them in a specialty grocery (épicerie), where you might be lucky to find them on sale for $4-$8/pint.  At an average of $6/pint, that's $144.00.  In comparison (excluding the cost of water and electricity), our beans cost a whopping $0.95 /pint for a total of $22.80.  So, if you have time for it, homemade pickles are definitely an exceptional way to manage both the quality of your food and your budget.

Canning Basics

Jars filled with apricot, blackberry & peach jam

It's a lot of work, but the enjoyment and satisfaction felt when you dine on the fruits of that labor are well worth it.  
Although it requires effort, it is not as hard as you might think.  On the other hand, it is not a game to be played sloppily.  Among the potential hazards associated with home food preservation, botulism is the dominant concern.  And it's not something to be toyed with - according to one source, one milligram of the toxin produced by this bacteria can be fatal to humans!  Furthermore, there are evidently no home-tests for botulism, and it does not typically cause visible damage or changes in the canned food product.


Bottom line - home food preservation fans have a serious responsibility to themselves and their dinner guests.  If you are as enthusiastic about this project as we are, please spend some time on the website of the National Center for Home Food Preservation.  This center is part of the Extension Services System (a cooperation of universities across the United States of America), and all their recipes have been lab-tested and adjusted to maximize food safety.  They also discuss in detail projects and procedures that are not recommended.  Even better, their recipes are tasty, simple and can easily be multiplied to meet the scale of your project.

If you are new to canning, we recommend starting with tomatoes, peaches, jam or pickles (read pickles post here)- they are about as easy as it gets.  This is due in part to the fact that high-sugar fruits and high-acid foods (like tomatoes and pickles) do not typically require processing in a pressure canner.  Pressure canners require more up-front investment, more precision, and may be more intimidating if they are your first experience with canning.

Water-bath canner (left); pressure canner (right)

Water-bath canning, on the other hand, is typically a low-cost investment, and is fairly straightforward.  To get started, prowl thrift shops (esp. when it's not harvest season) in search of canning equipment.    For most water-bath projects, you will only need the items pictured*: 

Over the years I have managed to scavenge three canning kettles, each complete with their essential metal "basket" (your jars should not be in direct contact with the kettle or each other), from various 2nd hand stores.  I've also scored piles of good jars - in this case good is not a relative term.  When it comes to canning it is important to use jars made for this purpose.  The "canning lid fits it" test is not good enough, as many commercial jars can be fitted with canning-style lid-and-ring tops.  

There are two factors to consider when selecting jars, both of which point to using only canning jars.  First, if the lids do not fit securely, you risk a poor seal and potential food poisoning.  Second, jars not made for canning may be more likely to break in the canner, causing a disheartening loss of your precious foodstuffs and a parallel sinking sensation of wasted time.


Next, each jar requires a two-part lid consisting of a threaded metal band (or ring) and a NEW self-sealing lid.  Re-use of lids is only acceptable for leftovers or when freezing foods.  A new lid is essential for ensuring food safety when canning.  Just think back to the last time you pried the lid off a jar of something home preserved.  In order to get the lid off, you typically have to bend it, and it remains misshapen ever after.  Without a new lid, you won't get a proper seal.


And, just a hint - when you put a lid and ring on a jar with something hot in it (i.e. jam, etc.), it may make the "pop!" without even being processed in the canner.  Do not be fooled!  Processing is not something to skip - it's not just the seal you need.  You also need the entire contents of the jar exposed to a certain temperature for a certain amount of time, in order to kill potentially harmful bacteria.  So, if you hear it pop, don't stop.  Process it in the canner for the time specified in the recipe, remove the jars to cool, and then do your happy dance when you hear those lids pop.

Finally, decide what you want to make.  If this is actually your absolutely-first-time-ever, make jam.  Jam is HIGH on our list of worthwhile canning projects for a number of reasons:

• It is a high-return value-added project (usually a fraction of the cost of a store bought pint-1/2 pint of organic jam)
• You can control the amount of sugar (if you use universal pectin, such as Pomona's)
• You can make lots of small jars, in contrast to canning whole fruit or tomatoes, when it is more work-efficient to use larger jars.  Small jars make it easier to happily part with your homemade jam - give it away and people RAVE!
• If you are going to go to the trouble, getting more than just canned fruit or veggies for your trouble helps motivate you to do it again.

Good luck!  Bonne chance!  

Have fun!

Handy Links:

• Start here: National Center for Home Food Preservation (link also posted in our Resources page)
• Think canning is old-fashioned?  According to this NPR article, 43% of canners are between 18-34 years old.
• Interesting recipes from "across the pond" - See this BBC link for some highlights from this BBC article.