Hi there!
OK, before I even get started, I confess that the main impetus for this post is to show off various pictures I've taken since May of some of the tastiness I've enjoyed in the past 4 months. So, while the ingredients might not be in season any more, it gives readers something to look forward to next year! Heck, my post about Fall meals still gets the most hits, even in Summer.
This post is mainly a celebration of some of this past Summer's little culinary joys (keep in mind that for me, Summer starts in mid-May and ends with snow), mainly some lovely soups and salads that were made over the course of the season.
We'll start with the soups. You'd think soup wouldn't be a very summery meal, but the right soup can certainly hit the spot if you're in the mood for it, and it's a good way to use vegetables that you might not be interested in eating whole (like beets or fiddleheads).
Fiddlehead Soup (serves 4)
Once again, that lovely fern known as the fiddlehead comes back into my kitchen. What can I say? They're tasty veggie goodness! I cooked more with fiddleheads this Summer than I ever had before. The season was shorter this year, but I got what I could as often as possible. This soup was adapted from a few online sources (especially the use of potato - VERY good as a thickener and this recipe could easily be vegan-ized and still turn out creamy).
- 1 lb. fiddleheads, scrubbed and trimmed (try to remove as much of the brown bits as possible, there have been stories of food poisoning linked to fiddleheads, but in this case you're cooking the heck out of them and they'll be safe, but the brown bits are still nasty)
- 2 tbsp butter (or olive oil for vegan)
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 potato, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- pinch nutmeg
- pinch cayenne
- 1 cup light cream or 2% milk (use non-dairy substitute for vegan)
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- First, you want to blanch your fiddleheads (basically boil in about a centimetre deep of water) for about 10 minutes. Fiddleheads are quite tough and need thorough cooking. Strain and reserve fiddleheads.
- In a pot, melt butter and sauté garlic and onions for about 3 minutes on medium heat.
- Add celery and potatoes and cook for another 5-6 minutes. Add fiddleheads and cook for another 5 minutes. Keep 2-3 fiddleheads per serving aside for garnish.
- Stir in vegetable stock, thyme, coriander, nutmeg and cayenne.
- Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low (3-4).
- Simmer for about 35-45 minutes, then stir in milk or cream.
- Simmer for another 10 minutes and turn off heat. Season to taste.
- Using an immersion blender, puree soup until a thick consistency is reached. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a normal blender, but make sure you allow air to escape and cover the hole with a damp towel. Otherwise, the steam will get trapped in the blender and cause it to blow up all over your kitchen. Not good when dealing with hot soup.
- Serve soup hot with reserved fiddleheads as garnish. Serve with your favourite sandwich or on its own.
 |
| The high-end version of "Soup n' Sammich Combo" |
Summer Borscht (serves 4)
I call this "Summer Borscht" because of it's bright golden colour, not what you'd expect when thinking of beets. Really, though, it works just the same with regular beets. While traditional borscht often calls for sour cream, I went with yogurt in this case and it was really tasty. If you don't know, borscht is basically a beet soup of Slavic origin. The thing that made this recipe sing was to roast the beets before cooking them in the soup. I also added some shredded zucchini, certainly not an element of traditional borscht, for body and a bit of extra veggie goodness. So, let's get to it!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. golden beets (or regular red beets), scrubbed clean and green tips removed.
- 1 tbsp olive oil + 1 tsp for drizzling on beets (see below)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1-2 carrots, sliced very thin
- 1-2 celery stalks, sliced very thin
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp caraway seed
- 1 tsp celery seed
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 cup shredded zucchini
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp fresh sage, chopped
- plain, Balkan-style yogurt to serve
- salt and pepper to taste
|
| The simple joy of making soup |
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Take a large sheet of foil, lay beets out flat and drizzle with olive oil and salt, wrap foil tightly and roast beets in the oven until tender (about 20 minutes). Remove and allow to cool slightly. Once cooled, peels beets (the skins come off very easily once roasted) and set aside.
- Melt butter in a pot on medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Once butter and oil have heated, stir in carrots, celery, onion, garlic, caraway seed, celery seed and dried thyme. Cook vegetables until soft, stirring frequently (about 10-15 minutes).
- Stir in roasted beets and cook for another minute or so.
- Stir in shredded zucchini, vegetable stock and white wine vinegar. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low (3 or 4) and allow soup to simmer and reduce for about 30-40 minutes. In the last 10 minutes or so, make the Open-faced Cheese Toasts (see below).
- Once soup has finished simmering, puree using immersion blender (see instructions in previous recipe).
- Serve hot with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and an Open-faced Cheese Toast.
Open-faced Cheese Toasts
- 2 slices dense pumpernickel bread
- 2 tbsp basil pesto
- 1 tomato, cut into 6 slices (I used yellow tomato, but any will do!)
- 1 cup grated extra-old cheddar
- 2 sprigs cilantro (optional garnish)
Basically, just place on a cookie sheet and broil until cheese melts. Remove from oven and garnish with cilantro. Use parchment paper to avoid getting melted cheese stuck on your cookie sheet. It sucks, don't let it happen to you!
 |
| The finished product! |
Next is a simple but unconventional salad featuring some of the best produce to be found in late Summer.
Pepper, Celery and Zucchini Salad w. Feta
When we think of salads, we often think of iceberg lettuce and a few random veggies drowning in some creamy dressing. Personally, I can't stand a ton of dressing and iceberg lettuce has about ZERO nutritional value or taste. My salads are usually spinach-based, but sometimes I just want a whack of crunchy veggies. The following basically falls into that category.
Salad
- 1 red pepper, either coarsely diced or julienned
- 1 yellow, either coarsely diced or julienned
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow zucchini, sliced (about 1/2 inch thick)
- 1 green zucchini, sliced (about 1/2 inch thick)
- 3 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- juice of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp dry basil
- salt and pepper to taste
Basically just toss all ingredients with the dressing and serve!
BONUS: Subtly Spicy Burgers (I made these to go with the above salad).
There's a multicultural grocery store near my work that sells whole dried chilies like Arbol, Mulatto, Guajillo and Cascabel. All you have to do to make them usable is grind them into powder using a coffee grinder. I strongly suggest that anyone who's serious about making awesome food pick themselves up a cheap coffee grinder for use with whole spices. The difference between grinding your own spices right before use is surprising and well worth the effort.
Now, I was making burgers and just wanted to add a subtle spicy flavour. Basically I took a pound of lean ground beef, added about 1 teaspoon of powdered Guajillo chili (good old fashioned chili powder works well also) and mixed it all together. Some finely chopped cilantro would also work well in a burger. Next I formed the burgers into 1/4 pound patties, threw them on the grill and there you! The cute flower-pattern bun came from a bakery in the Byward Market (the name escapes me) and I topped it with the ever-popular
Sriracha Mayo.
So there you go! Some of the best of the past season. Now that it's Fall, expect some heartier fare to come out!
And as a parting bonus, here's Kari!
|
Life is good when you eat gorgeousness on your deck at sunset. Especially with such lovely company!
|
