Seasonal Ontario Food

Even back when I was a teenager I thought that what grilled cheese needed was a bit of veg. My early attempts did not go well, however. I tried adding sliced tomato and pepper, and either the vegetable slices went under the cheese and came out raw, or they went over the cheese and the cheese did not melt. I never really did resolve the issue.

But along came Pinterest, and I started to see a number of grilled cheese pictures where the vegetables have been chopped finely and mixed with grated cheese, and huh! That would solve the problem, yes. Most of these photos seem to be from Indian or Turkish cooks; I've leaned more to the Indian side with cumin and chile. Chopped olives seem to be more favoured by Turkish cooks as an addition. 

This, by the way, is how we always made grilled cheese in our house. I mean under the broiler. Two slices of bread cooked in a pan or grill was regarded as a way for restaurants to give you more cheap bread in proportion to the cheap cheese they used. I'm more of a bread-lover than I used to be, and occasionally now make grilled cheese that way too, just with much better bread and much better cheese than used in any diner. Under the broiler remains my favourite grilled cheese though, and now it has plenty of vegetables cooked right in.

per serving
20 minutes prep time


2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped tomato
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion, chives, or shallot
1 tablespoon finely chopped orange or green pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh cilantro, parsley, OR basil
1/4 teaspoon cumin seed
1/8 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or similar, to taste)
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
30 grams (1 ounce) mozzarella, Cheddar, Gouda, or similar melty cheese
1 large slice of bread

Amounts are per serving; increase according to the number of slices of bread you wish to have. 

Chop the tomato, draining off excess amounts of seeds and juice. Measure and put the remainder into a strainer and salt well. Let drain for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, clean and chop the remaining vegetables and herbs and place them in a small mixing bowl. Grind the cumin seeds and add them, along with any other seasonings. Salt is only likely to be needed if the cheese is mozzarella; most others will have plenty. Grate the cheese and add it.

Heat the broiler and toast the bread to a desired light brown on one side, then turn and toast the other side more lightly. Mix the drained tomatoes in with everything else in the bowl until evenly combined, then spread evenly on the lightly toasted side of the bread. Return the bread to the broiler and broil until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and browning slightly in spots. Serve at once.





Last year at this time I made Fried Cauliflower with Mushroom & Onion Sauce. 

Is this Döner? Or do I mean Shawarma? I'm not sure there is much difference but no doubt someone can enlighten me. Although in reality, it isn't either of them because it is not cooked on a vertical rotisserie and shaved off into a pita.

Of course, there is no döner or shawarma joint within reasonable driving distance of my house or even within unreasonable driving distance. Fortunately this is an easy substitute. I'd say quick too, but for that necessary period of marination. Note that the chicken will cook in about 10 minutes. I'm saying 20 because you will need some time to get the greenery and sauce organized. I used hydroponic lettuce, cabbage, and carrots, but in season tomatoes would be appropriate. A slice of dill pickle is surprisingly authentic, and Torshi Lift is also classic, if you happen to have some.

4 to 6 servings
15 minutes prep time - 20 minutes cooking time
4 to 24 hours marinating time


Marinate the Chicken:
1 medium shallot
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup thick yogurt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
the juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon rubbed thyme or savory
2 teaspoons rubbed mint
500 grams (1 pound) skinless, boneless chicken

Peel and mince the shallot; peel and mince the garlic. Place them in a container with a cover, in which the chicken can marinate.

Add the yogurt, tomato paste, and lemon juice. Add all the seasonings. Mix well.

Slice the chicken into thin strips. It is easiest if the chicken is semi-frozen, but if you are able to slice it 1/4 inch thick or less when it is not frozen, it isn't required. Add the chicken strips to the marinade, and mix them in well. Cover and refrigerate from 4 to 24 hours.

Finish the Dish:
2 cups mixed salad greens
1 tablespoon olive oil
the juice of 1/4 lemon
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon tahini
the juice of 1/4 lemon

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 to 6 pita breads

Wash and coarsely chop the greens, and dress them with the oil, juice of 1/4 lemon, and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the tahini with the remaining lemon juice in a small bowl until very smooth. Thin with a little cold water if it is still too thick; it should be about the thickness of cream.

Heat the butter in a skillet over high heat. As soon as it is melted and bubbling, dump in the chicken with all of the marinade. Cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked and the marinade has thickened and coated the chicken. Once it is fairly dry and starting to brown in spots, remove the chicken from the burner.

Place a portion of the chicken in each pita bread, along with salad and tahini sauce in proportion. Fold or roll the sandwich into a cylinder for easiest consumption. I am only half joking when I suggest wrapping it in foil or waxed paper - dripping is a definite hazard.

I made some French onion soup for Christmas, and I still had a hankering for more. I didn't want to get into the whole soup-making thing again though, so I thought of this way of getting many of those delightful onion soupy flavours. It's still awfully time-consuming to cook the onions so not something I would go to the trouble for if I wanted just a single slice. Although I would think you could prepare the onion topping in advance and keep it in the fridge, toasting up slices of bread as you wanted them, for up to a week.

The cheese you use should be whatever you think most appropriate for French onion soup. Usually that will be a Gruyère or Emmentaler. If I had Gouda I would try it, but Mozzerella is too mild, I would think. I might try Friulano (Montasio) but it's not the usual. (I actually have some in the fridge at the moment, so I probably will try it... especially since this recipe was greatly approved.)

Note this recipe is per slice; multiply it by the number of slices you wish to make. Mind you, my slices of bread were pretty large and you could probably stretch this amount of topping out over 2 smaller slices.

per slice
1 hour - 20 minutes prep time


1 small onion AND 1 small shallot
OR 1 medium onion
1 small clove of garlic
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
50 grams (2 ounces) melty cheese - Gruyere, Emmentaler, etc
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
OR 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
a pinch of rubbed savory or thyme
1 large slice good sturdy sandwich bread

Peel the onions (and shallots). Cut them in half lengthwise, then lay them flat and cut them into thin slices across the width. Peel and mince the garlic.

Heat the butter in a skillet of the appropriate size over medium heat. Cook the onions in it until they are very soft and slightly browned; about 40 minutes. In between times is a good time to slice the cheese.

About 5 minutes before they are done start toasting the bread under the broiler until it is lightly toasted on both sides.

Add the garlic and balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce, and the savory or thyme, to the pan of onions and cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes more.

Pile two-thirds of the onions onto the pieces of toast, evenly divided, and spread them out to cover the toast. Top with the slices of cheese, and spread the remaining onion mixture over the top of the cheese. Return the toast slices to the broiler, and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly.




Last year at this time I made Kasha with Potatoes, Mushrooms, & Cabbage.

I never used know what the heck to do with cherry tomatoes as I am just not that fond of them. However I believe that little problem has now been solved.

And how many people does 12 pieces of toast serve? Well, there were 4 of us, and it served us. I have a feeling, though, that if there were 24 pieces of toast, or 2 of us, there would have been the same amount left over; namely none.

Ridiculously good? Why yes; I'd say so.

12 pieces of toast
20 minutes prep time


Make the Chile-Garlic Oil:
1 large clove of garlic
1 1" piece of fresh red cayenne or other hot pepper
1/4 cup sunflower or olive oil

Have the garlic peeled and sliced, and the pepper de-stemmed and sliced. Heat the oil in a small pot until it is quite hot, but not smoking or bubbling. Remove it from the heat and add the garlic and hot pepper. Allow it to cool, then strain it and store it in a tightly capped jar. This can be done at least a day in advance. The longer you let it sit before you strain it, the stronger it will be.

This makes enough for 2 batches of bruschetta.

Make the Bruschetta:
4 large shallots
16 to 24 cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon sunflower or olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 small baguette loaf
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Peel the shallots and cut them in slivers. Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them in halves. Wash, dry, and mince the basil. Toss all these in a shallow pan with the oil - which can be the flavoured oil, or not, depending on how strongly it is flavoured and how strong you would like the finished bruschetta to be. Broil the vegetables until softened and cooked, with lightly charred spots. Stir once or twice during this process to make sure they are fairly evenly cooked.

Meanwhile, slice the baguette in half lengthwise, then into serving sized pieces; 1 got 12 pieces approximately 2" square. Place them on a baking tray. Drizzle them with about 2 tablespoons of the chile-garlic oil.

When the vegetables are ready, remove them to the stove top and place the bread pieces under the broiler. Remove them when they are toasted to your liking. Spoon the bruschetta topping evenly over the toasts along with any juices that they have given off, and drizzle the balsamic vinegar over them as well. Return them to the broiler for just a minute to be sure they are served piping hot.

I bought some cheese bread from the day-old rack, then had to think of something to do with it. This was nice! It's basically your good old Monte Cristo sandwich, with cheese bread and a few mushrooms on the side. Keeping the 2 sides of the sandwich as one piece of bread makes it easier to keep it neat and together, but isn't strictly required. Serve this as a substantial breakfast or brunch dish.

2 servings
20 minutes prep time


2 pieces from an unsliced loaf of cheese bread
2 slices old Cheddar cheese
2 slices ham
a little mustard
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
salt & pepper
a grate of nutmeg
a little oil to fry
6 or 8 button mushrooms

Slice from your loaf of bread 2 slices, each equal to 2 fairly thin regular slices - each about 3cm or 1 1/2 inches wide, say. Cut each fat slice into 2 from the bottom, but not cutting through any of the other 3 sides, to create a pocket from your piece of bread.

Stuff each piece with a slice each of ham and cheese, cut to fit and with a little mustard spread between them, if you like.

Whisk the egg, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a deep plate or shallow bowl. Dip the 2 sandwiches into it, turning to ensure even coverage, until most of the liquid has been absorbed. It may take 10 minutes for that to happen, so be prepared to just let them sit for a little bit.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook each sandwich for about 5 minutes on each side, until well browned. While that happens, clean and slice the mushrooms, and throw them in to cook around the sandwiches - stir them regularly. Serve the sandwiches with the mushrooms over them once they are nicely browned and the cheese in the middle is melted.

Here is our second meal from our little roast duck of Monday. This one is more lunch oriented, rather than dinner, but one does eat lunch, after all.  Serve with salad or cole slaw, and pickles if you are so inclined, but the sauce is pretty distinct and we didn't think they would quite go. In retrospect, I think a couple of slices of fried onions would have been the ideal finishing touch.

2 servings
20 minutes prep time,
   always assuming you have already roasted your duck


the meat from 2 roasted duck legs

1 medium shallot
1 large clove of garlic
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon duck fat
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
2 good sandwich buns

Pull the meat from your roasted duck legs and shred it. Recipes always say with forks, but I'm here to tell you that a cold roasted duck leg is a ... firm roasted duck leg. Start with your hands, and have a good little sharp knife standing by.

Peel and mince the garlic and the shallot. Peel and grate or mince the ginger.

Heat the duck fat in a heavy-bottomed but not too large pot, and cook the shallot and garlic in it until softened and slightly browned. Add the ginger, then add the shredded duck and all the rest of the ingredients, (except the buns, strangely enough).

Heat the duck in its sauce over medium heat, stirring regularly and keeping the lid on between times, until the duck is hot through and the sauce at least partially absorbed by the duck. Meanwhile, slice and toast your buns and put them on plates. Top them with the duck, lifting it out of the pan with a slotted spoon and discarding excess sauce. I mean, you can put the sauce on the sandwich if you want, but it will definitely make the bun quite soggy.

Over the holidays we ate at several restaurants, and at one of them I had mushrooms on toast as an appetiser. Why didn't I think of that?! So simple, and so good. And so... here's my version.

You could serve these as canapés, passed around on a tray (but I would use a  higher proportion of toast to mushrooms) or you could serve them as an appetiser, 2 toasts per person. I don't think they are quite the thing that most people would want to eat to make a full meal, but if you were serving a first course, a second course, and dessert, they would make an excellent first course with 3 slices of toast per serving. The recipe I am giving is half of what I made - the volume of which can be deduced from the picture - but maybe that's quite a lot. I'm not actually sure of that. We had, as ever, no trouble eating it all, with just a little salad on the side.

Use a mixture of oyster, shiitake, and button mushrooms if you can, but even just plain button mushrooms will be delicious. Whatever you use, discard any parts that are tough and woody when you trim them. I would have added a little splash of sherry if I had had any, but I didn't. Likewise, if there had been any parsley kicking around, a little scatter over the top would have given a nice touch of colour.

makes 2, 3, or 6 servings - easily doubled
30 minutes prep time


6 slices baguette
150 grams mixed mushrooms
1 small shallot
1 large clove of garlic
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon rubbed savory or thyme
a pinch of celery seed, ground
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup light cream

Slice the baguette and set it aside; start to toast it once the mushrooms are in the pan and starting to cook down a bit. You can butter it or not, as you like, but keep in mind the mushrooms are pretty rich.

Clean, trim, and chop the mushrooms fairly coarsely. Peel and mince the shallot. Peel and mince the garlic.

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once it is sizzling, add the shallots, stir well, then the mushrooms. Let them cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until softened, slightly browned, and reduced in volume. Stir frequently. Once they are looking about three-quarters done to your liking, add the savory or thyme, the celery seed, salt, a good grind of pepper, and the Worcestershire sauce. Stir in the garlic, and cook for a minute or so. Stir in the balsamic vinegar until well mixed and absorbed, and then stir in the cream. As soon as it too is absorbed, leaving the mushrooms just moist, turn them out onto the slices of prepared toast.





Last year at this time I made Spicy Cornmeal Crisps and Rye & Potato Crackers. Which should apparently be made a week or two in advance, which is always (well, often) kind of handy.

My Mexican zucchini (Tatume) is pumping out the male blossoms, as well as the little calabacitas, so I thought I would put some of them to use.  Normally the herb used in these is epazote, but good luck finding that here. Cilantro fits in very nicely.

These are greasy and delicious little treat, serve them with a simple vinaigrette coleslaw to restore the balance, as well as some salsa to dip them in.

6 quesadillas
20 minutes prep time


12 fresh (frozen) corn tortillas
12 male zucchini blossoms
1 Jalapeño pepper
1 small onion
1 clove of garlic
a few sprigs of cilantro
1 teaspoon mild vegetable oil
200 grams (6 to 7 ounces) mild, melty cheese
         - such as mozzerella, Colby, or halloumi
4 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
tomatillo salsa to serve

If you are using frozen tortillas (the best way to buy them, in my opinion - look for ones with no preservatives) make sure they are thawed. If you are making your own, follow the instructions on the package of masa harina. I tend to make them in a big batch and freeze most of them, because they are a fair bit of work, so I usually start with frozen tortillas anyway.

Trim off the bulb at the base of each blossom, and discard the anthers as well. Rinse and drain the petals well, and chop them coarsely. Trim and chop the Jalapeño pepper. Peel and chop the onion and mince the garlic. Chop the cilantro. Thinly slice or coarsely grate the cheese.

Heat the teaspoon of oil in a large skillet, and cook the onion and Jalapeño until just soft and slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for just a minute more. Add the squash blossoms and cook until just wilted, turning to mix them in. Remove the vegetable mixture to a plate at once.

Lay out 6 of the tortillas, and divide the cheese evenly between them. Spoon the vegetable mixture evenly over the cheese. Top each tortilla with one of the remaining tortillas.

Wipe out the large skillet gently with a paper towel if there is any remaining vegetable residue in. Heat one tablespoon of the oil in the skillet, over medium-high heat. Place 3 of the prepared quesadillas, (or 2, or 4; whatever fits) into the pan and cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and crisped. You will likely need to add another tablespoon of oil to the pan when you turn them.

Keep the first batch warm in the oven while you cook the remaining quesadillas in the remaining oil. Serve them with tomatillo salsa.




Last year at this time I made Smörgåstartå to celebrate the posting of my 1,000th recipe on this blog.

According to my little list, this is my 1,000th recipe post, more or less. I say more or less, because sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between a recipe post and a "hey, look, food!" post. But whatever, I've made, and eaten, and written about, an awful lot of food since I started this blog just over 6 years ago.

I had a hard time picking a recipe for this post, but I think this one makes a good representative sample. It's pretty basic stuff, with a little twist. It uses techniques I know, but I was still making something new to me, and it wasn't as perfect as it could have been, but nobody complained, because it was made with high-quality Ontario grown and made ingredients and therefore tasted pretty damn fine anyway.


First suggestion - use a different bread than what I chose. Something with a lower profile, because when you make them this high they get realllllly hard to cut. Also, this was a beautiful loaf of stone-ground Red Fife wheat bread, and it tasted excellent but was a little too sturdy to be ideal. You really need a lighter sandwich bread.

Two days after our party (not just for the blog, other people were under the impression it was our annual family birthday party) I was wandering through the grocery store and saw a nice little flat, rectangular ciabatta loaf. Just the thing with a bit of trimming. Ho hum, well now I know and so do you because I make the mistakes for you.


This is a traditional Swedish thing, by the way. Mine are very low-key compared to most I've seen depicted on the internet. The Swedes are known for clean, modern design but when it comes to smörgåstartå, they tend to pile them high with curlicues of rolled cheese and cold cuts, vegetable folderols, shrimp and hard boiled egg slices; in short, they just don`t think it's possible to make a smörgåstartå that's too rococo.

I disagree.

It's not just that I lack the talent or the patience, (although I do), it's that my more minimalist sense of design apparently also extends to cakes, even if they are made out of sandwich. Still, if you like, this is a place to really let loose with your decorating ideas.


So, what do you put into your smörgåstartå? Whatever sandwich fillings you like, although I don't think sliced cold cuts and cheese are right at all, at least not inside. You can do like the Swedes and pile them on as much as you  like outside, but you want soft, icing-like fillings to continue the sense that you are eating a savoury cake.

I used egg salad (with minced fresh parsley), smoked trout salad (with Chow-Chow), and chicken salad (with celery and fresh savory). I can't give you quantities; it's going to depend on the size of your loaf of bread, but really, just basic sandwich fillings, chopped and mixed with a little mayonnaise. This Trout Paté would work, but I would also go for Ham Salad, liverwurst or chopped beef tongue salad, if you like that kind of thing - alas, I would have had it all to myself - or even just more of the icing, perhaps with chopped cucumbers or Pickled Beets.
 

The icing was a mixture of soft cream cheese and yogurt, with a little mayonnaise mixed in. I decorated the cakes with celery leaves, Bread & Butter Pickles, alfalfa sprouts, Red Pepper Jelly, olives and parsley.


I stuck some candles in the smörgåstartås, and the result was so festive that we broke into a spontaneous round of "Happy Birthday to Us!" as I lit them - and this is a very singing-adverse family.


And away we go - oh, wait. I haven't actually given you any recipe yet, have I? Well, here's one for the "icing". One recipe made just enough for each fairly small but high loaf. If you are making a big smörgåstartå you may need to double or even triple it.

I served this with simple green salads. It's so rich, varied and fancy in itself that I don't think anything else would make sense. 

Smörgåstartå Frosting:
250 g (1/2 pound) soft cream cheese, light is fine
3/4 cup yogurt, light is fine
1/4 cup mayonnaise, light is fine

Light is not only fine, I highly recommend it. This can end up being staggeringly rich if you are not careful. Which is okay up to a point; this is cake, even if it is also a sandwich. But still, the poor old digestive system can only take so much.

If your cream cheese came in a tub - and I don't want to hear about any of you using that nasty, gummy stuff that comes in foil-wrapped rectangles - use the tub to measure out the yogurt and mayonnaise - this is not rocket science or even rocket engineering, so eyeballing it is just fine. Actually, let me expand on that: both the cream cheese and the yogurt need to not contain any gums or gelatine, as they will interfere with the spreading and holding abilities. And make it tastes ho-hum, too, of course.

Put it all in a mixing bowl and beat it with an electric mixer until smooth and well blended, approximately 30 seconds or so. It should be a good, spreadable but not runny consistency, You may need to adjust one or another of the ingredients to get it just right, but this worked for me.

Trim your bread into a neat rectangular piece before filling and icing. If you can get 2 slices in, as I did (see first picture) either you are a much better slicer than I am or your bread is too high. Fill the sandwich generously with the filling of your choice.  Frost the smörgåstartå with the frosting, and decorate as you see fit.

That's it. If you have a nice, broad spackling trowel icing spreader, so much the better, but go forth, use your imagination, and have fun.

Oh, and be sure to use Seasonal! Ontario! Foods!




Last year at this time I made Cauliflower Patties. I note that last year at this time I was also apparently eating Great White tomatoes from the garden. *gnashes teeth* I knew things were much slower this year.

Hardly a recipe, more of a serving suggestion. The combination of eggs and asparagus on toast is completely classic; I like to throw in a little cheese too. I only had a baguette when I made this, but a more standard sized slice of bread is a better choice in my opinion. 

Garden crunch time is here, so it's off to plant things in between rain showers. This has been a lovely spring for rain, now if only the nights would stay decently warm we might get somewhere.

per serving
20 minutes prep time


1 or 2 large eggs
150 to 250 grams (1/3 to 1/2 pound) asparagus
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
1 or 2 slices of sandwich bread
30 to 60 grams  (1 or 2 ounces) Cheddar or other meltable cheese
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put a pot of water with a tablespoon of white vinegar in it on to simmer to poach the eggs, or cook the eggs in the oven, as here. It takes 8 minutes to cook a firm poached egg (pointless, in my opinion, but it's what some people want) and 3 or 4 minutes to poach a soft, runny egg. Time them to be done when the toast and asparagus go onto the plate - that process will take about 10 to 12 minutes.

Wash the asparagus, and break off the tough ends. Turn on the oven grill. Toss the asparagus with the oil on a large baking tray, and cook it under the grill for 4 or 6 minutes.(Start hard eggs just before turning.) Turn it over, and add the slices of bread to the tray.  Return it to under the grill, (start soft eggs now) and cook until the bread is toasted.

Turn the bread over, and cover it with the sliced cheese. Return it to under the grill, and cook until melted and bubbly, perhaps a little browned. Put the grilled cheese toasts on serving plates, and cover them with the cooked asparagus. Top with one or two poached eggs, and add salt and pepper as desired.

I had all these ingredients that needed using up so I came up with this brilliant idea... googled it and as usual discovered that half the world has been there ahead of me. Oh well. A good idea is a good idea. All the great flavour of the traditional Monte Cristo sandwich, easier to deal with as a savory bread pudding, or strata. Not really any quicker to make, I suspect, but much less fiddly especially if you are serving more than one or two people.

Actually, a Monte Cristo sandwich is often served with raspberry jam. I didn't have any, or I would have tried it. I suspect it would be a good idea to heat it first. You can use any reasonable sandwich bread, white or whole wheat. I used a sourdough rye, actually. Hm... next up, how about a Reuben strata?

6 servings
1 hour  30 minutes -  30 minutes prep time


4 large eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
10 to 12 slices slightly stale sandwich bread
2 tablespoons butter
200 grams (1/2 pound) sliced ham
250 grams (generoud 1/2 pound) sliced or grated cheese
    -  gruyere, gouda, cheddar or havarti

Whisk the eggs in a medium mixing bowl with the milk, salt, pepper and mustard. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Use the butter to butter the bread on one side of each slice. Cover the bottom of an 8" x 11" baking dish with a single layer of the bread, butter side down. You can trim the crusts or leave them on, as you like. This should use half the bread.

Ladle about 1/3 of the egg and milk mixture evenly over the bread in the pan. Cover it with an even layer of the ham, and about half of the sliced or grated cheese. Top with another layer of the buttered bread; butter side up this time. Ladle the remainder of the egg and milk mixture evenly over the bread. Cover the top evenly with the remainder of the cheese.

Let the strata rest for about 10 minutes before it goes into the oven. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Remove it from the oven and let it rest for another 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Hey everyone! I'm not here right now, but at the sound of the beep...

Oh, wait; that's not right. Let me try again. Hey, everyone! I'm not here right now. I'm in Cuba! Yes, Cuba! For 2 weeks. In preparation for this momentous occasion I have made a few Cuban dishes which will, thanks to the miracle of modern computing, appear at intervals until I return; at least, that's the plan. We'll see.

This one is a simple sandwich of cream cheese, strawberry preserves, and sliced cooked chicken or turkey on a plain white or slightly sweet sandwich bread (challah, for instance). It was invented in the 1930's at the request of a young Cuban socialite who would go seeking a late-night snack at one of Havana's trendy cafes. It's also very handy if you still have any leftover Christmas turkey around, and if you decide to put in cranberry sauce rather than strawberries preserves, well, it will be much less Cuban but perfectly tasty. It's traditionally toasted, but you don't have to. It's a sandwich, - a bocadito, - for heaven's sake.

Anyway, a very happy new year to all, and I'll "see" you when I get back.




Last year at this time I made Caroline's Low-Sugar Sweet Potato Cake.

Recipe? You don't need no stinkin' recipe. Two slices good whole wheat sandwich bread, smeared with mayo. Slices of ripe, juicy fresh-off-the-vine tomato sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. Crisp lettuce. All topped with a slice of Guernsey Girl cheese fried in a lightly-oiled pan over medium heat until brown and bubbly on both sides. Oh man, I want another and my cheese is all gone. *sniff* These things were exquisite; no other word.

Guernsey Girl is one of the cheeses we picked up at Upper Canada Cheese when we were there. It's a halloumi-inspired cheese, meaning it holds together and gets brown, buttery and delicately squeaky when fried in a pan as above instead of becoming a molten mess. If you can't get Guernsey Girl, you could use halloumi cheese. I'll be scouting around to see what I can get here, for as long as the tomatoes hold out.




Last year at this time it was Tomato & Garlic Soup with Vegetables.

As with so many old tomatoes, the history of Striped German -sometimes refered to as German Stripe or Striped - is hard to trace. As far as I can find, it was introduced by Johnny's Seeds over 20 years ago, after having been a pass-around variety for some unknown length of time. Other hints suggest that it originated in Hampshire County, West Virginia. It's quite possible; the name suggests a "Pennsylvania Dutch" or at least Mennonite origin, and Hampshire County butts up against Pennsylvania Dutch territory. Old German is a very similar tomato, but larger and later. I haven't grown it.

Seed catalogues describe Striped German as in indeterminate, 80 day tomato, a fine flavored red/yellow bicolor with unusually well defined stripes, and a productive plant. I don't find the stripes that pronounced; more like red-orange marbling, with more orange on the outside than red. Mind you, I have exactly one plant to go by. I'm a bit annoyed by this; I planted 2 Striped Germans, and one of them is distinctly off-type, and not nearly as good. Somebody wasn't keeping their seed plants well isolated? Harumph.

However, a well-grown Striped German - and my other plant seems fine, and more or less as I remember from the last time I grew them - is a real treat. The tomatoes are medium to large (mine are more medium, but they're pretty crowded) with red, yellow and orange marbled flesh and skin. They are dense, with moderate seed cavities and gel, and good texture that balances softness and firmness. The flavour is sweet and rich with fruity, almost tropical, notes. They are one of my favourite tomatoes for eating fresh, and a lot of other folks rate them highly too.

My tomatoes are unusually round - this may be because I don't have completely pure seed. Many Striped German tomatoes are rather ribbed, to the point of being lumpy.


They make great sandwiches. The one above is a "BCT"; a bacon, cilantro and tomato sandwich. The use of cilantro and baguette made me think of banh mi, so I threw on a little hot sauce with the mayonnaise. Very yummy.

The first time I ate a ham salad sandwich was at a funeral. The second time I ate ham salad sandwich was at a funeral. So were the third, fourth, fifth and etcetera times. In fact, up to about the fourth or fifth funeral at which I ate a ham salad sandwich, I was mentally referring to them as Anglican sandwiches; but then I branched out and attended a United Church funeral - where I was fed the exact same menu of tuna, egg and ham salad sandwiches on standard white or brown bakery bread, and assortment of squares and bars - and so was obliged to start calling them funeral sandwiches.

Tuna and egg sandwiches are common enough, but until I made my own I had never seen a ham salad sandwich outside of a funeral. In fact, it took me several funerals before I had even figured out what they were, and the general list of ingredients. For some reason, you never see them on sale, and I have never gone to anyone's house and been served one. If you check old cookbooks, you will see they were once common enough; it puzzles me a little that they have now become such an arcane item of eclesiastical ritual.

Being a Quaker, I had not realized until I had attended quite a few that the menus of church funerals were so steeped in unvarying tradition. For once we leave the committees to others and cater by means of pot-lucks, which means you will get a strange and always changing selection of items such as tofu casseroles and sushi, but someone is bound to bring a salad and some cheese and bread, so that's all right. Still, just like an awful lot of Quakers tend to sneak off for midnight mass on Christmas eve, it's sort of comforting to know that even if we wouldn't dream of bringing ham salad sandwiches to a funeral ourselves (what would the vegetarians eat?) there's other people out there engaging in time-honoured if theologically baffling rituals.

I do wonder what will happen when the present generation of refreshment committee ladies have had the ham salad sandwiches passed around over their own coffins. Are novices being initiated into the refreshment committees at a sufficient rate to ensure the survival of the ham salad sandwich? Or will the terrible day arrive when not only does no-one know how to make them, but no-one even knows that they ought to be made? I lie awake at night and worry about things like this.

Oh, and by the way - they're really very tasty. Don't wait for a funeral.

Enough for at least 8 sandwiches
About 10 minutes prep time, not counting cooking the ham




2 cups chopped cooked ham
a slice of onion, or a green onion, if wanted
1/3 cup mayonnaise, light is fine
1/3 cup green cucumber relish
1 teaspoon mustard or horseradish

Put the ham into a food processor, with the onion slice or chopped green onion if desired, and process briefly, until finely chopped. Turn it into a bowl and mix with the remaining ingredients.

Use as a sandwich filling, or to stuff mushroom caps as an hors d'oeuvre.



Last year at this time I made German Style Red Cabbage & Apples.