Seasonal Ontario Food

Last year around now I was making Chinese Cucumber & Radish Salad, and Creamed Spinach Filled Buns.

Last year at this time I made Vaguely Thai Chicken Salad Cups.

So... what have I not yet put into a fruit crisp? I know! It's peanut butter! And now I have, and I'll be doing it again, because what a good idea. This was entirely successful. Anyone who retains a fondness for peanut butter and jam sandwiches will like this very much.

At this time of year, it requires frozen berries, of course. They need to be thawed in advance. Other than that, it's mix the crumbs, mix sugar and starch into the fruit, introduce the two layers to each other, put it all in the oven, and there you go. Almost as easy as a sandwich; it just needs time to bake.

I'm saying 8 to 10 servings where usually for a fruit crisp of this size I would say 6 to 8. This is rich, and dense, and filling. Small portions are definitely recommended!

8 to 10 servings
1 hour 15 minutes - 15 minutes prep time

Measure the peanuts and chop them. I put them on a board and used the measuring cup to crush them fairly lightly but evenly. Put them into a mixing bowl with the oats, spelt flour, salt, and sugar. Mix well.

Mix the berries with the starch and sugar in an 8" x 10" shallow baking (lasagne) pan. Once they are mixed well and spread out evenly, sprinkle the topping evenly over them.

Bake for  45 minutes at 375°F. Let cool to warm or room-temperature before serving. 

Here's a very popular thing to do with eggplant these days. I saw Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe, with buttermilk dressing and pomegranate seeds and like so many others I was very taken by the pretty picture of green herbs and red berries on a creamy white ground.

I think a tahini sauce is perhaps a bit more traditional, and at any rate I try not to feed Mr. Ferdzy too much dairy, as it does not agree with him unless it's slightly elderly cheese. The other thing I did was replace the pomegranate seeds with red currants. Yes! Red currants! They are the right size, the right colour, the right amount of tart and zing, AND unlike pomegranates, they're growing right in my back yard. Which is where the eggplant came from too, and the cilantro, the garlic, and the summer savory. Pretty good!

The size of the eggplants is less a matter of weight and volume, so much as thickness - 2" at the thickest point, or less, and they should cook nicely. Anything thicker and you may want to cook them longer, at a lower temperature.

2 to 4 servings
20 minutes prep time PLUS 10 minutes to cool


Make the Za'atar:
2 teaspoons rubbed savory
1 teaspoon rubbed oregano
3 teaspoons sumac
1/4 teaspoon (to taste) Aleppo pepper
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Start broiling the eggplants before you make the za'atar and dressing; then you can make them while it cooks.

Mix the za'atar ingredients together in a small bowl or jar (this is more than you will need, but it's nice to have a little extra in the pantry). 

Make the Tahini Dressing:
1 to 2 cloves of garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tahini
2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoons water

Peel and mince the garlic. Sprinkle the salt over it, and mash them together until they are a paste. Put them in a small bowl, and mix in the tahini. Mix in the lemon juice, then the water. Taste and adjust the amount of water and/or lemon juice if necessary. 

Cook & Dress the Eggplant:
2 medium long thin purple eggplants
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
2 to 3 tablespoons minced cilantro, mint OR parsley
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh red currants

Preheat the oven with the broiler. Be sure the rack is not in the highest position, but in the next one down. 

Wash the eggplants and trim off the stems. Cut them in half lengthwise. Cut hatchmarks into them, being sure to cut fairly far down but not to the skin. Rub them all over with the oil, both skin sides and cut sides. Lay them in a single layer in a grilling pan that will get them well-placed under the broiler. Broil for 12 to 16 minutes, until tender and browned.

Just one minute or two before you judge them cooked, sprinkle a teaspoonful - or however much you think you would like - of the za'atar over each half eggplant. Finish broiling, then set them aside on a trivet to cool. If you want them on a more attractive serving dish, now is the time to move them.

When you are ready to serve, drizzle the tahini dressing over them. Sprinkle them with the chopped cilantro, and the red currants which have been washed and stripped from the stems.





Last year at this time I made Tart Mixed Berry Cheesecake Crumble. Got a much better berry harvest this year! Although much of it is already picked and gone.

Cooking meat with vinegar is a very ancient technique; the Anglo-Saxons are known to have used it. More recently, chicken with vinegar has been seen as a traditional French dish, with a Paul Bocuse recipe becoming quite popular. That one has wine vinegar and tomatoes, and I may try it some time. But right now, it's raspberry time, and we thought the bright, zingy flavours of the vinegar and raspberries went really well with the chicken.

There's quite a lot of butter in the original version, but my chicken gave off enough fat that I simply left a reasonably generous amount of it in the pan and omitted adding any butter. You could though, if you were using skinless chicken. Two tablespoons, likely, in that case. 

If you don't have raspberry vinegar on hand, you can make some by mashing half a cup of raspberries and leaving them to steep in your vinegar for several hours to overnight, then straining them well (press to extract as much juice as you can) before you start cooking. And while berries are in season, make some Raspberry Vinegar in larger quantities to take you through the rest of the year.

2 to 3 servings
30 minutes prep time


1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
   OR 4 to 6 chicken thighs
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 medium shallots
6 sprigs fresh thyme OR summer savory
1/3 to 1/2 cup raspberry vinegar
1/4 cup 10% cream
1/4 teaspoon potato OR arrowroot starch
1 cup fresh raspberries

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces, skin-side up if there is one, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes per side, until cooked. Season with salt and pepper as they cook. Keep the pan partially covered.

Meanwhile, peel, trim, and finely slice the shallots. Strip the leaves from the sprigs of thyme or savory, and mince them finely.

When the chicken is done, remove it to a plate and cover it while you make the sauce. Add the shallots to the pan, adding a little more oil if needed (only likely if using chicken breasts) OR drain off some of the fat from cooking the chicken if there is too much. Cook the shallots until softened and translucent, and starting to brown. Add the vinegar and scrape up all the brown bits in the pan; cook until reduced about half in volume. Mix the starch into the cream and mix it into the sauce. Add the chicken back in and heat through.

Add about 2/3 of the raspberries and mix in until wilted. Transfer to a serving dish, being sure to scrape all the sauce over the chicken, and garnish with the remaining raspberries. Serve at once.

This pie was very well received - well, pie! - including by my mother, who really does not like coconut all that much. However, even she had to concede it added just the right level of crunch and contrast to the fruity filling. Citrus juices go extremely well with blueberries, and I particularly like lime, but nothing wrong with lemon or orange either. In fact what I had was some unsweetened cherry juice. You may wish to adjust the sweetener slightly, depending on which juice you use. (Adjust up, do I even need to say? You may wish to do that anyway. As usual, we found this sweet enough but have adjusted to fairly minimal sweetness in our desserts.)

I used frozen blueberries as ours are just starting to ripen. Mr. Ferdzy has been busy covering them with netting, as this is looks like it is going to be our first substantial harvest - providing the birds don't get them.

6 to 8 servings
1 hour - 15 minutes prep time
not including time to make crust OR cool


Make the Pie:
1 Quinoa-Potato Starch Pie Crust (or other single pie crust)
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsweetened fruit juice - orange, lemon, lime, cranberry, cherry, etc
a little grated zest if using citrus juice
1 large egg yolk
4 cups blueberries, washed and picked over

Pre-bake the pie crust as directed in the recipe, for 10 minutes. Keep the oven at 375°F when it comes out.

Meanwhile, mix the tapioca starch, honey, fruit juice and zest, if using. If your honey is very thick, you may want to warm it very briefly in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water until it is just runny. Whisk in the egg yolk.

Be sure the blueberries are well drained, then spread them in the pie crust. Pour the liquid mixture evenly over them. Bake the pie for 20 minutes.

Make the Coconut Topping:
1 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
2 tablespoons coconut sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg white

Mix the coconut and coconut sugar, and rub the butter into them. Mix in the egg white.

When the pie has baked for 20 minutes and is beginning to look a bit set, sprinkle the topping evenly over it. Return it to the oven for another 25 minutes, until completely set and golden-brown. Let cool before serving.




Last year at this time I made Eggs with Purslane & Garlic Scapes. 

I started fooling around with this recipe last summer, after reading this recipe at The Guardian. As it stood, it was of no use to me as it called for condensed milk, which is sweetened (very sweetened). I decided, though, to see what I could do with evaporated milk, which isn't. The trouble with evaporated milk is that it is much thinner, and freezes differently. How would it work if made into a custard with an egg, I wondered?

The answer is, fairly well. The chocolate version of this is really quite excellent. So far, the berry version is not quite so good, being prone to large ice crystals forming in it. It also freezes much harder than commercial ice cream and must be tempered. However, it is ice cream, and ice cream that doesn't have large amounts of sugar in it, meaning that I can eat it.

I will, no doubt, continue to play around with this - especially if the weather continues at some of the temperatures we've been seeing so far - and I will probably post specific flavours separately.

I started off using an erythritol-monkfruit artificial sweetener (available at Bulk Barn). It's supposedly an all-natural artificial sweetener, and it is not supposed to raise your insulin levels, unlike other artificial sweeteners. It gets recommended a lot because of that, but I am a little dubious about it, and it still has a slightly odd aftertaste. I also found the sweetening effect to be a bit unpredictable when used alone so I tend to either just use real sugar or other regular sweeteners, or use half sugar and half of the erythritol-monkfruit blend.

Note that The Guardian's recipe calls for adding a little alcohol to keep it soft. You can do that if you like, but be aware that alcohol is basically sugar.

8 to 12 servings
about 25 minutes total prep time
allow at least 3 hours for cooling and freezing


Make the Base:
1 354 ml tin evaporated milk
1 large egg
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons sweetener of choice
1 1/3 cup whipping cream

Open (puncture in two spots) the tin of evaporated milk and pour it all into the top of a double boiler. Whisk in the egg and salt, and sweetener of your choice, the amount and type being up to you and depending on other flavourings and ingredients to be added. Also depending on the flavour of ice cream desired, other ingredients may be added now; for instance if making chocolate ice cream the cocoa powder and chocolate should go in with the sweetener.

Heat the mixture over simmering water, whisking regularly at the beginning, moving into whisking constantly as the mixture begins to thicken. Once it has thickened - and it's a thin custard, so the effect will be fairly subtle - remove it from the heat at once and let cool to room temperature before proceeding. There are some flavourings (for example the mashed berries) which may need to be added once the base is cool.

Beat the whipping cream until very stiff, and fold it into the cooled ice cream base. Transfer the mixture to a freezable container with a lid, and freeze  until solid.

It will likely need to be tempered before it is served - leave it on the counter for 30 minutes or in the fridge for about an hour before serving. These times may vary slightly depending on other ingredients added and how cold your freezer and fridge are, so check on it regularly until you have an idea of how long it will generally take.

For Chocolate Ice Cream:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
60 grams (2 ounces) unsweetened or very bittersweet chocolate
use sugar OR erythritol-monkfruit sweetener

While the ingredients in the double boiler are still cold, mix in the cocoa powder and chocolate, broken into small pieces. Use sugar as your sweetener, to taste, or erythrito-monkfruit sweetener, or a mixture of the two. Otherwise proceed as directed above.

For Fruit (Berry) Ice Cream:
3 cups prepared frozen fruit
1 to 2 teaspoons appropriate flavouring extract, eg. vanilla, almond, lemon, etc
use honey, sugar, OR erythritol-monkfruit sweetener

Before you begin, remove the fruit from the freezer and spread it out on a plate in a single layer to partially thaw. 

Proceed as above to make the base, using honey, sugar, or erythritol-monkfruit sweetener, or a combination. Add a teaspoon of compatible flavouring extract to the custard just as it thickens, if you like. Let it cool, as above.

When the fruit is thawed ONLY JUST enough to be mashed with a fork, do so, and fold it into the custard. Then fold in the whipped cream, and freeze immediately.

For Rum & Raisin Ice Cream:
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup rum
1 or 2 tablespoons honey

Before you make the ice cream, soak the raisins in the rum and honey for at least an hour. Make the custard without other sweetener added, then fold in the raisins with the soaking liquid when the custard is cool, and proceed as usual.




Last year at this time I made Sour Cream Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup.

More hazelnuts... they're neither local (alas; they used to be, before diseases destroyed them in the 1970s) nor in season, but I do have a fairly large bag of them in the freezer, and since shopping has been a challenge, shall we say, I have been digging into the freezer lately.

Haskaps (aka honeyberries) on the other hand are very much in season. We started picking them a couple of days ago, and must now pick them every day until they are over, which will not be in much more than a week or so. Short but, uh, no. Not sweet. That makes them a challenge for someone who wants to add as little sugar as possible. They are very much on a par with that other "fruit" of early summer: rhubarb. As I so often do these days, I decided the optimum way to use them would be in a crisp. With the amount of nuts I put in I decided it would be better called a "crunch".

Haskaps are a lot of work to pick and then to clean, and nuts are expensive, so this is a bit of a luxurious treat. Go ahead and serve it with cream or ice cream, and serve small portions because it's also very rich.

I put in the lower quantity of sugar in the topping, and only the honey in the fruit filling. The general consensus was that this was delicious, but would really have benefited from more sugar. So unless you are really avoiding the sugar like I am, I suggest you put it in. 

Makes 6 to 8 servings
1 hour - 30 minutes prep time


Make the Topping:
2/3 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
2/3 cup large flake rolled oats
2/3 cup ground almonds
2 to 3 tablespoons Sucanat, coconut sugar, or dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon almond OR vanilla extract

Toast the hazelnuts in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Transfer them to a plate to cool, then rub off the skins and crush or chop them coarsely. Put them in a mixing bowl with the rolled oats and ground almonds. Add the sweetener and salt, and mix.

Grate in the butter, stopping to turn it into the nuts, etc, every so often. When it is all in, mix the topping by hand until the butter is well distributed throughout - there should be no dry bits left - and forming small clumps. Sprinkle the flavouring extract over and mix it in.

Make the Filling & Finish:
4 cups haskap berries
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons minute tapioca

Wash the haskaps and pick them over, discarding any bad berries, leaves, or prominent stems. Butter the baking dish (9" x 9" or 8" x 10" or other 1 1/2 litre shallow baking pan), leaving any excess butter in the bottom. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Measure the honey and water and heat together (the microwave, for about 20 seconds works well) until warm and liquid and easily blended. Mix in the tapioca and sugar, and toss the berries with the this mixture. Spread it all out evenly in the prepared pan.

Spread the topping evenly over the berries and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350°, until lightly browned and bubbling. Let cool to just warm or room temperature before serving. 

I seem to always post a strawberry recipe around now. It's too early for fresh ones from the garden, but as ever, our freezer is still full of last years. (We seem to have made a serious dent in the ones from the year before, I'm happy to say.) Right now, our strawberry plants are all flowering and it looks like it will be a good summer for them.

Also, you know what this is! It's another entry in the series "classic fruit desserts made better with strawberries". Because let's be frank: strawberries are the best berries. We were all happy with the amount of sugar I put in this, because we have all adjusted, but if you wanted to put in twice as much nobody could stop you. Like all fruit crisps, this would be lovely with cream, custard, or ice cream.

6 to 8 servings
1 hour 30 minutes - 30 minutes prep time


Make the Topping:
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup finely ground almonds
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the oats, ground almonds, flax seed, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Grate in the butter, stopping to gently mix it in every so often so that it does not end up in a single massive clump again. Sprinkle the extracts over it, and mix by hand until the butter is well distributed throughout and the texture is crumbly. 

Make the Filling & Finish:
6 cups hulled strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons arrowroot

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Wash, drain well and hull the strawberries. They should be thawed if you are using frozen ones; include the juice. Cut them in half if they are large. Put them in a 9" x 13" baking (lasagne) pan. Toss the sugar and arrowroot into them until evenly coated.

Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the strawberries and bake for 1 hour at 350°F until lightly browned and bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.




Last year at this time I made Sorrel, Leek & Green Onions Spanakopita.

I've always loved desserts that consist of fruit and meringue or similar spongy textures and custard, and it turns out that if I am going to eat dessert now, I could do much worse. Apple Snow and Prune Whip are classics, but my freezer is still full of strawberries, so I bring you this next installment in the series of Great Desserts Made Even Better with Strawberries. I also had a go at making this dessert without gelatine, so it is now vegetarian, if that's something you want. 

It is, of course, too soon for field strawberries, so I augmented my frozen ones with some greenhouse ones. I intend to make it again in proper strawberry season, though.

The steps below add up to 40 minutes, but they can't really be done all in one smooth action, as each step requires some cooling time after it is done, so you will need to allow for that. I would also think you could put in twice as much sugar as I did, anywhere along the line where I call for it. As usual, I have adjusted and found this satisfactory, but I can see that other people could like more. You will need three large eggs in total, just in case there is any question about that.

6 to 8 servings
20 minutes to make berry sauce
15 minutes to make Swiss meringue
15 minutes to make custard


Make the Strawberry Whip:
2 cups sliced strawberries (can be frozen)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons arrowroot
a pinch of salt
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sliced strawberries (fresh)

Slice the berries and put them in a pot with the water, arrowroot, and salt. Stir well to dissolve the arrowroot. Bring to a simmer and simmer until the berries are soft and the sauce has thickened and turned clear; stir frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool.

When the berry sauce is cool, put the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. Bring the water up to a steady simmer. As it gets warm, begin beating the egg whites, etc, with an electric mixer. Continue to beat them until they are very stiff and firm (cooked). Remove them from the double boiler at once and fold them gently into the berry sauce. Transfer the resulting berry whip into a serving bowl or individual serving dishes. Chill until serving time. 

Make the Custard:
1 tablespoon arrowroot
2 tablespoons sugar
a pinch of salt
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups whole milk or light cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the arrowroot, sugar, salt, egg yolks, and egg into the top of a double boiler. Whisk well. When smooth, whisk in the milk or cream a little at a time before beginning to bring the heat up. Continue to whisk frequently, until the custard thickens. Remove it from the double boiler at once to cool. It can be just warm or room temperature when served with the chilled strawberry whip.




Last year at this time I made Turkish Minty Lamb Meatball Soup.

Here is a festive take on a typical salad around here; I've done lots of quinoa and other grain-based salads, and lots of salads with roasted vegetables, and lots of salads with fruits and nuts. This one has them all, plus some pretty lively seasonings. 

It was made for a large family gathering, but it's not too fancy to be what's for dinner, and I would think leftovers would hold fairly well. Not that we found out, of course.

6 servings
allow 1 hour 20 minutes for advance cooking
allow 30 minutes to cool vegetables
allow 10 minutes to finish assembling the salad


Cook the Quinoa:
1 cup raw quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put the ingredients into the rice cooker; turn on and cook. Let cool.

Roast the Vegetables:
500 grams (1 generous pound; probably 2) sweet potatoes
6 to 8 large shallots
300 grams (10 ounces) Brussels sprouts
3 or 4 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375°F. 

Wash and trim the sweet potatoes, and cut them into bite-sized chunks. Put them into a large shallow baking tray and toss them with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Put them into the oven to roast.

Meanwhile, peel and trim the shallots, and cut them into fairly large slivers. When the sweet potatoes have roasted for about 10 minutes, toss them into the sweet potatoes along with another tablespoon of oil.

Wash and trim the Brussels sprouts, and cut them in halves or quarters according to size. Toss them into the roasting vegetables when the sweet potatoes have been roasting for about 20 minutes (i.e. 10 minutes after adding the shallots). Season generously with salt and pepper and continue roasting the vegetables for another 30 to 40 minutes until they are done to your liking - it is a good idea to stir them at least once in the middle of that time.

When the vegetables are roasted, allow them to cool to somewhere between slightly warm and room temperature.

Make the Dressing:
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fine hot red chile flakes
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
the juice of 1 1/2 large limes

Measure the oils and seasonings into a jam jar or small bowl. Peel and mince the garlic finely, and add it. Juice the limes and add the juice to the other ingredients. Mix well or shake together until well blended.

Assemble the Salad:
2/3 cup roasted salted peanuts
2/3 cup dried cranberries

Loosen and break up the cooked quinoa in a large mixing bowl. Add the roasted vegetables and toss to combine. Mix in the roasted peanuts and dried cranberries. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat it in the dressing. Transfer the salad to a large serving bowl and serve.





Last year at this time I made Orecchiette with Brussels Sprouts & Parmesan.