Top Chefs at the Market

I love to shop at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market, but it's way more fun to eat there. Take the new Executive Chef Series at the market, which kicked off Thursday evening with a lovely, fresh, local and oh-so-yummy meal prepared by Chef Anthony McCarthy.

Dinner began with carrot ginger soup topped with fresh-picked sorrel. On a cold winter's night, a little bit of fresh green tastes so amazing. The salad was so simple and so delicious: one perfect cocktail tomato with dash of basil purée, a circle of balsamic reduction and a sprinkle of powdered - yes, powdered - cold pressed canola oil.

Next, smoked whitefish with lemon pepper and horseradish cream, nestled onto a "sheaf" of fresh cut pea shoots all dolled up with hemp oil dressing and nutty hemp seeds. (During the course of the evening's conversation I learned how to grow pea shoots at home, so here's to a little winter gardening...)

The entrée featured a shaving a waygu beef rolled around a filling of wild boar, next to a gooey cheesy lentil risotto and silky roast vegetables. A light dessert was in order: sea buckthorn gelato (my favourite!) with a compote of berries and chocolate paté.   

The next event in the Executive Chef Series is Thursday, February 16, with Chef Brent Lloyd. Check it out on the farmers' market website.

A Menu for the Chili Season

Breakfast:
Oatmeal porridge - sweetened with Saskatchewan maple syrup

Lunch:
Grilled cheese sandwich and a few carrots (Co-op cheddar which, I'm told, is made locally)

Dinner:
Venison Chili - flavoured with juniper berries picked in a nearby park

Harvest Dinner for Eight

Dinner for eight is pretty much at the maximum limit of my culinary abilities. Even at that, I'm apt to forget something in the fridge or in the wine cellar. That's said, there's nothing I love more than to cook for a table full of hungry, happy friends... 

Pear and Squash Soup

A velvety blend of pears from Dick and Verna's tree, plucked by hand and canned to perfection in a light honey syrup, paired with the earthy flavours of acorn squash grown in my community garden plot, spiced with a generous dash of Chatty's curry.

Beet and Walnut Salad

The beets were pulled from my garden just days before dinner (and just before a hard frost) roasted and served in the classic pairing with walnuts and goat's cheese, topped with a raspberry syrup vinaigrette. Many thanks to the lady at the end of the street for letting me pick her raspberry bush at its peak in August.

Hunter Stew (see recipe below)

Otherwise known in Italian as 'Cacciatore,' I love this stew for its earthy blend of herbs, mushrooms and a hardy free-range chicken. Served with noodles, which my husband rolled while I set the table.

Apple Pie

Oh my gosh... This was one of the best apple pies I've ever made. Must be the locally-grown apples I purchased last Saturday at the farmers' market.

Recipe for Hunter Stew
Cut a whole chicken into pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy pot. Brown the meat on all sides. Remove chicken from pot.

To the oil add 1 chopped onion, 2 sliced red peppers and 2 chopped cloves of garlic. Sauté until soft. Pour on 1/2 cup of dry red wine and simmer until almost evaporated, scraping up any brown bits in the pan. Add a mix of herbs to your taste: sage, oregano, thyme and/or rosemary. Return chicken to pan.

Add 10 homegrown tomatoes, fresh or thawed. Toss in a handful of chopped chanterelles (reconstituted dried mushrooms also work well). Add enough water to just cover the contents of the pot, place the lid and simmer on medium-low heat for 2 hours. If it gets dry, add more water. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Meanwhile, cook a pot of broad noodles. Remove the chicken from the stew to a platter. Place some noodles in each bowl, douse with the sauce and pass the chicken on the platter.

Note: Since I was serving eight and one chicken was not quite enough, I added several Italian sausages which I had pre-cooked, browned and cut into chunks.

Saskatchewan Menu - Chocolate Overload

I'm eating healthy today to counterbalance all that leftover candy. Today's menu exemplifies the ordinary, everyday opportunities to eat locally:

Breakfast
Toast and jelly (Christie's Bakery bread and my raspberry jelly)

Lunch
Grilled cheese and tomato sandwich (Co-op Cheddar and a garden tomato)

Dinner
Sausages (Co-op) with sauerkraut (Kissel cabbage) -- and far too many mini chocolate bars!

Saskatchewan Menu - Comfort Food Sunday

Breakfast, lunch or dinner - our table was set with local comfort food today!

Breakfast: bacon and eggs (farmers' market)

Lunch: Four Grain Soup (wheat, barley, lentils and wild rice) with venison pepperoni and chanterelle mushrooms. Thanks, Rick, for the venison!

Dinner: Reuben Egg Rolls (Kissel sauerkraut)

Reuben Egg Rolls

10 egg roll wrappers

10 thin slices Swiss cheese

1 1/2 cups sauerkraut

10 thin slices corned beef

1 tsp crushed caraway seeds

1 egg beaten

Canola oil

Russian or Thousand Island dressing for dipping

Place an egg roll wrapper on the counter in a “diamond” shape, point toward you. Place a slice of cheese on the egg roll wrapper. Place a rolled-up slice of corned beef on top. Add about 2 tbsp sauerkraut and a pinch of caraway. Fold the bottom point over the filling and fold in the sides. Brush the surfaces of the wrapper with beaten egg to seal. Complete the roll, sealing the edges. In a saucepan, heat one inch of oil to 350F (medium high heat). Fry each egg roll until nicely browned on each side. Drain on paper towel and serve warm with dipping sauce.

Saskatchewan Menu - Rewards of Canning

I dipped into my "stash" and opened a jar of preserved raspberries. I remember the day in late summer I picked these raspberries on a friend's farm -- hot and dry and blessedly mosquitoes free. Although... I would gladly run a phalanx of mosquitoes for sweet canned raspberries on a crisp fall day.

Today's Saskatchewan menu:

Breakfast: Muesli with yogurt and raspberry preserves.

Lunch: Four grain soup and Christie's rye bread.

Dinner: Rye bread with sliced sausage (Emco) and garden tomatoes (my dad); zucchini chocolate cake.

Saskatchewan Menu - Fish and Biscuits

Recycle, reuse and re-enjoy! When it comes to leftovers, that's my motto. Tonight, I took leftover trout and vegetables and turned them into pure comfort food: Fish and Biscuits.

Breakfast: Homemade muesli with yogurt.

Lunch: Chickpea Fruit Salad (leftovers from Friday's Auction Dinner) and Zucchini Chocolate Cake.

Dinner: Fish and Biscuits.

Start with leftover Trout on a Bed of Vegetables. Simmer the fish skeleton for an hour in 3 cups of water with some of the leftover vegetables, adding a bay leaf and a few peppercorns. Drain, reserving the liquid and composting the rest.

Bring the fish stock to a simmer in a large skillet. Whisk in 2-3 tbsp of flour. Add the leftover vegetables -- about 4 cups -- and leftover fish -- about 1 cup. (Crumble the fish and make sure all the bones are removed.) Season with salt and chopped fresh tarragon. Add a bit of water if needed.

While that simmers and thickens, make biscuit dough. I used a recipe from Joy of Cooking. Roll the dough and cut into small rounds with a cookie cutter.

Pour the vegetable mixture into a baking dish. Arrange the biscuits on top. Sprinkle with chopped dill. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes, until the biscuits are just slightly turning brown.

Saskatchewan Menus - Auction Dinner

Last spring, I provided an auction item at a fundraiser for the McClure Foundation that included a copy of my book Prairie Feast and dinner at my house. Yesterday was the big day...

Appetizer

Cold cuts from Emco Finer Foods --
including their award-winning koubassa.

Prunes wrapped in bacon. The prunes weren't local, but the bacon was purchased from Wingeier's at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market.
Sliced tomatoes -- from my garden

Bread from Christie's Bakery -- baguette and German rye

Main

Trout from Wild West Steelhead (purchased whole at the SaskMade Marketplace) baked on a bed of carrots, onions, parsnips and celery. The vegetables came from the farmers' market and my dad's garden. Tarragon from my herb patch. (recipe)

Wild rice. Purchased at the SaskMade Marketplace.

Chickpea and Fruit Salad. (recipe)
Canned chickpeas labelled "Product of Canada." Apples from Petrofka Bridge Orchard. Cumin from a local farmer. Chili powder and garlic from the farmers' market. (Instead of peaches, I used nectarines from the farmers' market and the vendor from B.C.)

Dessert

Apple pie with cheddar cheese. I picked the apples from a tree in the neighbourhood. Armstrong cheddar made locally by Saputo.

Juliette Cherry liquor from Living Sky Winery.

Thank You Rick and Joy for a wonderful evening!

Saskatchewan Menus - One day at a time

I was recently asked, "What do you eat?" Seems some people can't imagine what a local diet looks like. So, now and then, I'll post our daily menus with sources (and some recipes) as inspiration to all Saskatchewan locavores. Starting with...

Breakfast: Cheerios. Saskatchewan is the largest supplier of oats to the big brand name cereal companies, so even though Cheerios are made in the U.S., they are a taste of Saskatchewan.

Lunch: Re-heated wild rice. Leftovers from another meal, seasoned simply with salt and pepper. The wild rice was harvested near La Ronge and purchased at the SaskMake Marketplace

Dinner: Pasta with tomatoes and basil. Purchased pasta labelled "Product of Canada" -- the durum wheat is grown in Saskatchewan. Tomatoes and basil from my garden.

Garden tomatoes ripening in the kitchen.

Read Saskatoon Dinner

Scenario: Read 'n' Feed charity auction for literacy in Saskatoon. Auction item: An all-Saskatchewan dinner at my house. Bonus: Wines supplied by Dr. Booze, local wine columnist (aka James Romanow). The result:

Appetizers

Seared Flat Iron Carpaccio (recipe)

Chickpea Chilli Fruit Salad (recipe)

Tomato Tarts with Mustard Creme Fraiche

Palate Cleanser

Sea Buckthorn Gelato (source)

Main Course

Lake Diefenbaker Trout baked in salt (recipe)
Wild Rice and Dried Cherry Salad (recipe)
Grilled baby zucchini

Dessert

Raspberry Mille Feuille (recipe)

Verdict: I cooked all day in the summer heat, but it was worth it! Thank you Gen and Glen, Dave and Judy, for supporting Read Saskatoon and coming for dinner.