Bacon. Butter. Tart.

It's a bit overdue, but I've meant to post about this monstrously delicious treat we had last month.

Butter tart, meet Bacon. 

I know it's trendy to put bacon into just about everything now, but I'm still exploring the world of bacony sweets. Always enjoyed the taste of bacon when, in a morning breakfast, it would mix with some maple syrup. I've added maple syrup when its cooked before to carmelize it. Yet still, I would never have considered adding it to a butter tart!

We were visiting the Green Living Show in Toronto this April when we tasted these fabulous treats from Madelyn's Diner (Stratford, Ontario).

One of my favourite part of the Green Living Show is the food vendors! We discover something new every year we go. We've bought so many delicious snacks, sauces and goodies there. Many of the vendors have samples available, and it's allowed us to try some really interesting things - from sweets to super foods to vegan entrees.

This year we found a large bag of fairly local (Peterborough?) hemp seeds which were super fresh. We'd been eating the ones bought from a bulk section. These fresh, refridgerated seed are delicious!! In hindsight I wish we'd bought another bag. We eat them every day on oatmeal and add them to salads. And since most items are on a show special, we got them for a better price than we'd been buying the stale ones at.

There is also a food court, with foods and drinks from several local regions. We always buy a handful of tickets and try a few different treats. This is where we found out bacon butter tarts. We ordered one each to take home.

It was.... good! Odd, but good. I'm still not convinced bacon should be in sweet treats, but it's remarkably delicious. The pieces of bacon were thick enough to really keep their definition, otherwise I'd worry that they would begin to meld into the mushiness of the filling. The actual sweet filling for me was slightly too sweet, but it didn't sound like that was an issue for my hubby with a sweet tooth.

My stomach did not thank me later, however. Between the sugar and fats, this is definitely a once in a blue moon kind of treat. Kind of a novelty food, really.

But - bacon. So it's a win.

Dinner on a hot day - or - thank gods for my CSA

It's unbearably hot here. Being the good (frugal) environmentalists that we are, we have yet to give into the this "air conditioning" trend, and don't even own one. With temperatures into the 40s (celsius, after humidex), the last thing I really wanted to do tonight was turn on a stove. And with no propane in the BBQ, it took a bit of creative thinking to come up with a meal with what we had at home.

I've mentioned we're in a CSA. That means we're getting bags of veggies of weeks right now. Salads get a bit tiring, but they make nice side dishes. After a quick tour through the pantry I came across some red quinoa.

Perfect! Quinoa, a grain, is a complete protein. This makes it a great addition to any vegetarian meal. No need to make a meat dish when we have this amazing little grain. It's one of the non-local staples that I will keep in my pantry. You can eat almost the entire plant, although we really only see the seeds here in North America. It's native to Peru, and was sacred to the Incans. No wonder, given the nutritional fortitude of this plant. It contains about 15% protein and has a full spectrum of the amino acids that humans require. It is also gluten free.

I cook our quinoa in the rice cooker: 1 part quinoa to 1.5 parts water and usually a handful of fresh herbs, today I used oregano from my garden. About three-quarters of the way through it cooking I added in the steamer tray to which I added chopped rainbow swiss chard and topped it with chopped garlic scapes, sprayed lightly on top with peanut oil.

When this was done, I served it in a Napa (Chinese) cabbage like a little quinoa-chard-veggie-taco. I didn't add a sauce, but you could add sour cream or salsa, or another favourite sauce. On the side, a spinach salad, because we still have all those salad-type veggies to get through!

Stay cool...

Where the wild foods are

I love spring in Ontario. Everything around me has just ended it's winter slumber, ready to burst forth for another green summer. The ground is wet, and the woods have an earthy, loamy scent. When I'm brave enough to traverse the mud, I'll stand there for a few minutes, just smelling the earth.

Our first foods start showing up at this time of year, including some foragers favourites. There are three that I get particularly excited for which grow wild in my area: ramps, fiddleheads, and morels.

Ramps
Commonly referred to as Spring Leeks at the market, also known as: Wild Leek, Ramson, or Spring Onion. As it's Latin name indicates - Allium tricoccum - it has a garlic-like flavour which makes it a nice addition to spring meals. Ramps have long, broad green leaves, a burgundy coloured stem and a white scallion-like bulb. The entire thing is edible. I enjoy chopping it up and adding it to a sautee, or grilling them to include in a vegetable dish. You'll find them on wooded slopes, and probably need a tool to help dig them up whole.

Fiddleheads
Fiddleheads are young ferns which have not yet uncoiled. Commonly found near water in wooded areas in early spring. I've seen debate about which kind of ferns you can eat. Most sites will indicate you should stick to the Ostrich fern only, however there is a family of ferns very similar and before they are uncoiled, it's difficult tell if it's an Ostrich fern or not. I get my fiddleheads from a local Mennonite farmer. When I asked him how you can tell which are edible, he said he'd pick any from that particular family. You don't want the ferns that have started to uncoil, as they tend to be bitter. You need to wash them well, and remove the brown papery cover from them. Everyone has their preferred way to cook these. I like to boil them until they are fairly well done, which helps to make sure I've gotten all the grit out of the uncoiled fern and makes them easier to digest (you can't eat these raw). Then I'll sautee them in garlic and butter. Delish!

Morels
I went camping one day and spotted a bunch of morels. Because I was completely inexperienced with wild mushrooms at the time, I just took a picture and left them behind. Had I known for sure, we'd have dined on a classic wild dish. Morels have a deep, woodsy flavour to them, and they are absolutely irresistible to foragers. You can find people who will sell them, and they aren't particularly cheap but they are completely worth it. Since they often grow in sandy areas, you have to clean them carefully, or you'll find yourself dining on the tastiest grit ever. You can't over clean these - trust me. Start by putting them into a dry towel while they are dry, then shaking them around in there to try to knock dirt out of them. Next soak them in salt water for quite a while (will also help to get rid of critters up inside). I nibble a piece to test the grittiness. When I finally get them clean I often slice them in half lengthwise, and sautee them in butter then eat them as is. Dried morels are good, easier to use because they are cleaned already, but nothing beats a fresh morel.

Because they are wild foods, please do not go foraging if you are inexperienced. I buy all three of these foods at my local market. I'm asking them and learning about the foods, so hopefully I can forage for my own one day.

What the Wild Meal was
Of course, with this selection of wild treats we had to have a wild meal. I sauteed the ramps and fiddleheads with garlic and butter for a large, green sidedish. The morels were sauteed and presented alone, I think first morels of the year need to be appreciated for what they are. Lastly, to accompany our wild veggies, we had local wild boar sausages that we picked up from a local meat store.

Our local, wild, spring-time meal.

Borealis, not so far from home...

A fabulous thing happened recently. On a visit to Guelph to visit my Mom for Mother's day last weekend, she suggested we all go to Borealis. She was sure that I would absolutely love it, and as it seems, mother really does know best.

Borealis is a fantastic new restaurant, which specializes in making local foods. I am hoping that it will be the first of an earth-friendly trend. I could tell you all about the things they are doing to make a difference, but I'd encourage you to check out their website for more information: http://www.borealisgrille.ca

During my visit last Sunday, I started with the Roasted Ignatius Onion Soup. It was a tasty, local version of a French onion soup, topped with a smoked cheddar (that I regularly have on hand at home) and a crostini. A tasty, tasty start. Borealis also carries a list of Flatbreads (or as my Mother put it "Oh, it's a pizza?"). I decided on the True North flatbread, consisting of ground bison, caramelized onion, field mushrooms and a Monforte Baumanís smoked cheese. Yes, it was truly as finger-licking as it actually sounds. The flavours were a perfect blend, and the smoked cheese was a good tie in with the soup. Lastly, I split the Chudley's apple crisp with my Mom, even if we were nearly bursting at the seams. Still, I ended up going home with a third of a flatbread, which made an excellent late night snack ;)

We went back again yesterday. Oh yes, I think this may turn into a favourite new haunt, even if we do need to drive to another city to get there.

Last night we started the meal with the Borealis Tusks. Somehow the description they give, just doesn't do it justice. The menu describes it as "Ground Bison, Tomatoes, Herbs and Mozzarella fried in a Whole Wheat Wrap with Spicy Dipping Sauce". What it was, was 8 pieces of fried heaven. We split this between four people and there was plenty to go around. I could have even passed on the sauce completely, since the Tusks themselves had an excellent flavour. What isn't mentioned above was the addition of green onions.

They also had a draught special, 2-for-1 pints of Amsterdam Two Fisted Stout (Toronto). It was the first time I've had that stout, and if you're a Guiness lover, you'll really appreciate it. No preservatives, great full-bodied taste, distinct taste of barley & malt with hints of a creamy espresso flavour. If you normally find stout to be a bit to strong for you, consider trying this.

Finally, all four of us enjoyed the Prime Rib together. When I say enjoyed, I suppose I should say "drooled on, gobbled up and talked about it for two days." Although I didn't have a chance to ask them about whether their beef is wet or dry aged (or a combination of both) or for how long, it was seriously a fantastic prime rib dinner. The website doesn't do it justice, they only mention that it is "slow cooked". It is actually smoked for hours, and then slow cooked. It was the first time I'd had a smoked prime rib. It is like someone took a great prime rib and asked themselves how they could make it better, and it completely worked. They offer it in two sizes (8oz was more than enough for me), and only on weekends. I'll definitely be going back for it again. To accompany the prime rib (as if it needed more than the smoke?) was a tasty thyme gravy, horseradish, as well as carrots and ramps (spring leeks). I ate enough horseradish to get a high-five from the waitress, although I'll point out that I didn't diminish the taste of the prime rib. For any hot horseradish fans, it was tasty, but not all that hot.

Not sure what the dessert we took home was (it was a special) but it was fabulous.

One fun note for duck lovers: I did notice was that their website advertises a poutine with a duck confit, but the menu gives ground bison or pulled pork as options for that dish. When I asked the waitress about it, she said that they do also offer it with duck confit if you ask.

Yes, Borealis is absolutely my favorite new restaurant find. Thanks Mom!

Weekend food hunt

My neighbours, my husband and I went out looking for local, and organic (or all-natural) foods today. Someone jokingly said something about how we were out "hunting and gathering" our food. It made me think.

When I go shopping for my food at a large chain grocery store, I feel really removed from the food that I am buying. I have no idea where most of them were grown. In fact, a lot of the foods I buy from there come from farther than I've ever travelled to. I'm disconnected from the farmers who've produced it, the land it was grown on, and indeded the food itself.

So off we went, from store to store around the area, hunting and gathering for our foods. We went to Organic Oasis, Pfennings Organic, Grainharvest bakery and Our Farmer Choice.

What did I find? Locally grown organic garlic, onions, and local organic oats, horseradish, milk & chocolate milk. Organic romaine lettuce, kale, kabocha squash, bananas (fair trade), roasted red peppers, zucchini, raisins, dried apples, tea, snacks, All natural & local rye buns, 7 grain bread, smoked pork chops, stuffed pork, inside round roast, fresh bacon, fresh farm eggs and pepperettes.

Mmmm... tasty treasures.