Prairie Bounty Catering

Of Beef Bourguignon and Kick Ass Ham

2010-03-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

I don't know what came over me tonight. A huge desire to cook both an amazing ham and beef bourguignon. No matter that I was missing part of the ingredients for both... I had stewing beef and a ham on the bone. Since it's almost impossible for me to follow a recipe anyway, it seemed like a proper approach to use the ingredients I had at hand.

For the beef, I was only missing pearl onions. And I am too cheap to part with ALL my red wine. Instead a bottle of red wine and a wee bit of water, I used the rest of my box (I know, I know. Mock me.) and the white that Wes and Linda had in the fridge, opened, for a long time. I knew it was past its prime for drinking but that it would do just fine for cooking.

For the pork, I had bourbon, but was missing the molasses the recipe calls for. (Hmmm. Priorities?) I decided to substitute the molasses for some delicious ginger marmalade I've been loving lately. Sounds good, no? Ginger/orange/bourbon/dijon ham?

I'll let you know if it's good as soon as we try it.

The beef bourguignon, we'll eat tomorrow. I think it needs to simmer something ridiculous like 6 hours or so.

And tomorrow? Tomorrow I grill Skate

Ironically, felt too lazy to try it today. Joey and I picked it up at Neptune's this morning.

Recipes and such to follow!

Lentil Vegetable Soup

2010-02-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

It's been too long since I posted recipes here, but was inspired to start again. Since this is one of my favourite lentil soups, I thought I'd start again by posting this one. It has always been popular, whenever we've served it.

Lentil Vegetable Soup
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin (you can also use curry paste if you're in the mood)
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 c. dried red lentils, rinced
4 c. vegetable stock
¼ tsp. pepper
Salt to taste
1 tbsp. lemon juice
dash hot red pepper sauce, optional
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender and
fragrant, about 5 min. Add curry powder and cook for 30 seconds.
Add carrot, celery and potato and combine well. Stir in lentils and stock. Bring to boil.
Add pepper and salt. Cook gently, covered, for 30 min.

New Recipes

2008-05-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

I promised some new recipes to the people who were at our last event. I can't remember exactly which recipes right now, so as soon as I find the little cooking-stained sheet of paper on which I wrote the requests, I will add them here.

In the meantime, you can always search for a recipe... we may already have the one you were looking for!

Spicy African Peanut Soup

2008-02-19T08:05:00.000-08:00

The popularity of this soup always kind of surprises me. I mean, we love it but I don't always expect other people to love it that much. After our last event, we had so many recipe requests that I said I would post it.

Enjoy!

African Peanut Soup

1 large onion

3-4 cloves garlic

1 litre tomato sauce*

1 800 m. jar or can of diced tomatoes

1-2 tsp. cumin

½ tsp - 2 tbsp. chili powder (we usually use crushed red pepper flakes instead.)

1 ½ - 2 cups natural peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

1-2 Tbsp. soy sauce

salt to taste

1 litre water

Sauté onion and garlic until they are just beginning to brown. Add other ingredients except peanut butter. Bring to boil and summer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Stir until peanut butter melts and soup is smooth. Adjust seasonings and add water if it is too thick.

*use a good quality tomato sauce or make your own without basil or oregano as these herbs tend to make the soup taste Mediterranean rather than African.

Savoury Bread Pudding

2008-02-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

I did a breakfast, all on my own this morning. It was only for six people, and had to be delivered to a friend's house, so it didn't even feel like working. Anyway, I tried a new recipe from the folks at Tall Grass Prairie.

We really love their breads and other food. When we're catering something big and can't make the bread or dessert or whatever on our own, we use their's. Anyway, we've really loved their Savoury Bread Pudding when we've gone to the Forks so when I saw the recipe in a local magazine, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

For once I actually stuck to the recipe. Except I didn't have marjoram and so I used lots of thyme instead. That is about the closest I've stayed to a recipe in years. If I made it for the home crowd, I'd probably try use milk instead of cream. That cholesterol thing, you know?

Apparently the people at the breakfast approved.

Savoury Bread Pudding

INGREDIENTS
8 cups chopped vegetables (onions, peppers, mushrooms, celery, zucchini, asparagus, garlic)
1 Tbsp marjoram
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp Grass Roots fresh pressed organic sunflower oil
7 eggs
2 1/2 cups cream
1 cup diced fresh herbs (parsley, basil, rosemary, dill)
12 cups cubed bread
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese
3/4 cup grated aged cheddar cheese

METHOD
1. On a baking sheet, mix vegetables, marjoram, salt, pepper and sunflower oil. Bake in the oven for 10 mins at 500°F and set aside.
2. Whisk together eggs and cream until frothy. Divide in two parts and set one aside.
3. Add bread, fresh herbs and Romano cheese to one part of egg mixture.
4. Lay half of bread mixture into well-greased, 11 x 17" baking dish. Layer with half of roasted vegetables. Add another layer with remaining bread mixture. Add remaining vegetables and top with cheddar cheese.
5. Pour second part of egg mixture over bread pudding and bake at 350°F for 25 mins.
6. Cover baking dish with parchment or lid and continue baking for another 30 mins. Remove savoury bread pudding from oven and serve hot.

Yield 12 servings

January

2008-01-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

My friends who work in restaurants tell me that January is the quietest month. And even when people go out to eat, they're eating light, and drinking light, and trying to undo all the excesses of December.

We had a busy December at Prairie Bounty, too, and true to form, January has been quiet. That's just fine with me.

We have done a bit of experimenting, though, and we made our own cheese for the first time last week. It was fun. It was easy. It uses a lot of milk. I was really surprised by the amount of milk it took to make just a bit of fresh mozzarella. It made me marvel once again at the ingenuity of people who first came up with a glorious food like cheese.

I can just imagine someone thinking... Hmmm. All this milk. No refrigerator. What am I to do? And somehow they figured out that with just a bit of rennet you could control the curdle and make it into something really tasty that had more staying power than fresh milk.

Even though our milk came out of a carton and not from our own cow (or sheep or goat) I felt kind of connected to the people who made cheese out of necessity, not because it seemed like a fun thing to do, and I thought it would be fun to do it some more.

Maple Dressing

2007-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

We catered a dinner tonight and there was a lovely vegetarian there. She thanked us profusely for not making the vegetarian choice some kind of pasta. Apparently at most of the dinners she goes to, the most common vegetarian choice is lasagna.

"I like lasagna, but you can get too much of it."

I'm sure.

I never really considered cooking something completely different for vegetarians, and I didn't realize they often ended up with a pasta dish. I love the vegetarians in my life and I tend to enjoy the challenge of cooking vegetarian more than cooking for meat eaters. (Cooking meat is kind of a no-brainer. You get great meat from a butcher who gets his (or her) meat from a small scale organic farmer and you can't go wrong. You can't wreck it. Unless I suppose you like to over cook it.)

Anyway, when we prepare for the vegetarians at our dinners, we usually try to do something that's comparable to what we're making for all the carnivores. Tonight we did Mozzarella Chicken with mushrooms and onions and so our vegetarian choice was exactly that except with portobello mushrooms.

Back to the title of the post. Our lovely vegetarian really liked our salad dressing tonight. It is one of my personal favourites, but I think it's made better because it dressed locally grown hydroponic lettuce, wild blueberries and a sliver of onion. Here's the recipe. It's good on just about anything.

Maple Dressing

1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar (or your favourite mild vinegar)
1/3 cup real maple syrup (or more)

Whisk.

Um, that's it. Kind of embarrassing it's so easy, but it's the truth.

Enjoy!

December

2007-12-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

Busy Busy...

I've heard people say that they do most of their work in December. I suppose it's true because we are having our busiest month, ever.

I've been meaning to post some new recipes, but it just might have to wait until January. Some of the dainties we've been making are to die for, and we have a great new pear feta salad creation. One of our latest pork recipes has everyone wanting the recipe as well.

Out for Dinner

2007-11-16T13:14:00.000-08:00

We're going out for dinner tonight, all the Prairie Bounty girls, along with our husbands. We thought we should thank them for all their unpaid labour. They often end up being the ones who haul the barbecue where we want it, carry in food and carry out dishes. They're also great cleaner-uppers when we need a few extra hands.

I suppose they also get to eat our cooking. Still, we thought a dinner out would be nice.

I find I'm eating out less these days, but going to better restaurants. There is nothing that bugs me more than going out to eat and thinking, "Wow. I could have done this so much better." Not that I think I'm so great or anything, I just think there are a few rules you must follow if you're going to cook good food and run a good restaurant.

Here's my list:

You may NEVER use that strange, flash frozen previously known as chicken that's lost all its flavour and texture. I'm not even sure it was chicken, ever. I don't know what they do to it, but even if it's cheap, there is no excuse for that stuff ending up on a plate restaurant that wants to be taken seriously.

Pork CANNOT have that funny porky smell. My husband, good farm boy that he is, tells me that pork tastes like that for one of two reasons: the porker was not a virgin when he was killed for consumption, or he was castrated improperly. Sharpen those knives, folks, because that awful smells like pork thing should never happen. Taste your own food, please!

Don't serve me that lettuce out of a bag that tastes like the gas that is supposed to keep it from going bad.

Frozen square vegetables are not allowed. Ever.

Pretty much any frozen vegetable is taboo. Especially if you've cooked it anything other than tender crisp.

DON'T call it butter if it isn't.

DON'T re-use your oil and make sure your grill is clean. Ugh. Dirty grill flavour.

Coffee. must. be. strong. and. hot. (Exception: Restaurants that serve Asian food. You just shouldn't order coffee there.)

Tea should always come in a teapot. If you hand me a bag and a cup of semi-hot water, you've lost me.

Cranky wait staff will not be tolerated.

It's pretty easy to check the glasses for somebody else's lipstick stains before you bring them out to me. (I was in a really great restaurant, really expensive, really bad lipstick stain. I think I should have gotten something for free.)

Better a simple restaurant made dessert than something that looks elaborate but was obviously mass produced. We were at a restaurant with friends last week and I think a $7 dessert should be made on the premises or by some dessert specialty place. I can take it out of a box very nicely myself, at home.

There you have it! My 10 Commandments of cooking.

Cheese

2007-11-15T21:23:00.001-08:00

We just got a mail order cheese making kit. It's just a start, but how fun it would be to make all our own cheese.

It looks easy! Kind of like making wine, or maybe even home made bread.

Stay tuned! You just might find yourself eating our home made cheese some day soon!

Dainties

2007-11-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

I never used the word dainties for lovely little cookies and squares until I came to Manitoba. I think we called it Christmas baking, or even just baking, when I was growing up. But out here, whenever the beautiful baked goods are rolled out, they're called dainties.

I like that word, actually. It sounds... not fattening.

Anyway, we've decided to bake dainties for Christmas. Lots of them. 12 different kinds. And we're going to take orders and sell them.

So if you are interested in getting lots of delicious Christmas dainties, dainties that look as if you did them yourself except better, then you might want to give us a call or send us an email. While we can't tell you they will be low fat, we can promise that we'll only use fresh ingredients and real butter and really good chocolate--no substitutions and no shortcuts.

We can deliver them to you ready for your table or your freezer, depending on your preference, and we are working on our price list.

We are going to be giving out samples and taking orders at the next 3D Ladies Cinematic Society evening at the Park Theatre on November 22, as well as raffling a sample platter. It should be fun and you may be able to take home some lovely little dainties!

Delicious

2007-10-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

Because I was away this past week, Yvonne and Linda handled three medium size jobs with just the two of them. It all went very well, I'm told, but I sure do hate to miss those kinds of luncheons and dinners.

I like it that we plan the menu, shop, prepare, cook and serve together. We bus the tables, too. There's no hierarchy, even when we need to hire helpers (well, we don't let just anyone stir our soup) but I love being part of the process from beginning to end.

I like it that people rave about our cooking, not because we're Michelin-starred chefs, but (I think) because it's honest food. We refuse to take machine harvested, washed and chopped iceburg lettuce out of a bag with bits of carrot thrown in for appeal. We'd much rather wash and tear our own Romaine. Even better if we can get it from Neva Hydroponics and treat people to Manitoba-grown lettuce in the middle of winter. I really hate the term "home-style" cooking. How can something be home-style if it's made in a factory?

I like it that even though people really like what we cook, I know that it's also good for them. They leave feeling great, not sick or over-stuffed, but healthy.

It makes it all worth it.

Roasted Carrot Dip

2007-10-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

We made this dip for a party we catered a month ago. It was really popular. If you're more of a naturalist, just substitute yogurt for the mayo and sour cream.

10 peeled carrots
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream

2 tsp wine vinegar
pinch sugar salt pepper
dill to taste

Toss carrots and garlic in oil and roast at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove garlic and roast carrots 20 minutes longer or until tender.

Blend with 1/4 cup water until smooth.

This is good with just about anything that holds a dip.

Puffed Wheat

2007-08-08T06:27:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted for a while, not because I haven't been cooking, but because I never feel much like cooking during the long hot days of summer. We made an amazing fresh pesto pasta salad for supper last week, the sisters and I (thanks to Yvonne's generous plantings of basil) and I think it was my favourite meal of the summer, so far.

We've been on a bit of a puffed wheat binge these days. I've discovered that you can make puffed wheat squares with canola oil instead of margarine or butter, thereby making them completely free of saturated fats.

I thought that was cool. What got me on the puffed wheat kick was a little place close to my house that makes the puffed wheat recipe with millet. Oh my, one does feel virtuous eating millet, even if it is sweetened up with gobs of sugar.

Anyway, here's the recipe:

1/2 cup corn syrup or honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1-2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla

Bring to a boil and then boil for one minute, stirring frequently. Pour over 8 cups of puffed wheat and stir. Press into a greased 7x12 inch pan.

Substitutions:

If you want to stay away from cocoa, substitute a few tablespoons of molasses for the corn syrup or honey. These are delicous with dried fruit and nuts. Just decrease the amount of puffed wheat or millet that you use and add the equivalent amount of extras.

Prince Edward Island

2007-06-12T08:21:00.001-07:00

We'll be leaving for Prince Edward Island within the week. What a lovely place,with delicious food, I must say.

Lobster and mussels and brand-new skinless baby potatoes will be on our plates. It's not hard to eat local when you're in the heart of place that epitomizes rural Canada.

We'll also spend some time in New Brunswick. Next time you're on the East Coast, don't miss New Brunswick and don't expect that what you see from the TransCanada Highway is what the province looks like. Not at all.

It's a little like the planners said, "let's find the most dense forest, and the most uniform terrain, and plunk the Highway right through it all so no one notices how lovely this place is." Don't be fooled.

Anyway, this blog may be quiet for the next few weeks because obviously, I will be far from the Prairies, but the garden will be growing and we'll be cooking up lots of good ideas for our locally grown catering company, even if we like the taste of lobster now and then.

Mushroom Barley Soup

2007-06-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

We got this recipe from a friend. It is high on my list of favourite soups.

1 ½ lb mushrooms (white button, baby portabella, or mixture of both)
1/4 cup butter or oil (prefer unsalted)
1 large onion chopped
1 leek, white and pale green parts only, chopped
8 cups broth
1 medium potato, peeled, diced small
1/2 cup chopped celery (use the top leaves too)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 large carrot peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup pearl barley
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper

Remove stems from mushrooms, slice caps, chop stems and set aside.
Melt butter in heavy large soup pot over medium heat and add onion, leek, carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté until tender, about 8 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add mushrooms, cook 2 minutes.
Add chicken stock, barley, potato, and bay leaves and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce to low heat, cover and simmer about 35 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Remove bay leaves and discard.

Well that was fun...

2007-06-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

We were back at Winnipeg Harvest today. We were honoured to cook for their round table symposium for National Hunger Awareness Day. Many different community leaders were there, from the media to non-profit agencies, to business leaders. It was nice to hear people talking about working together and finding common ground from which to move forward.

We really want to move away from disposable dishes and so this was the first time we used real dishes even though we didn't have an on-site kitchen. It struck me as we carried in 12 boxes of china that it's quite a bit more work to use the real stuff. Had we used paper, we could have carried all the dishes we needed for 40 people in one trip. We could have thrown them out at the end of the meeting and not had to worry about washing them.

But why bother with good food if you're going to eat it off of styrofoam? I hate that shivery feeling I get when my spoon scrapes the bottom of a styrofoam bowl--it makes it hard to enjoy that last bite. Anyway, now we have our own dishes for up to 100, and we will use them whenever we can. Now we're on the hunt for good silverware and our own cloth serviettes.

We really like setting a nice table and serving food to people that tastes good and is good for them. We like being able to offer something that is fresh and affordable and just a little bit different. It's a great way to be involved in National Hunger Awareness Day.

Salad Dressing/Ice Cream Topping

2007-06-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

I made my favourite salad dressing for a friend. The whole family loved it on the lettuce, but her daughter was especially crazy about it. She put it on her ice cream the next day, and while I never thought of doing that myself, I can see how the slightly tarty strawberry would be incredible on some ice cream.

Might have to try it myself.

Buckwheat

2007-06-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

Oh my.

We've just discovered buckwheat groats. Expect it to turn up in recipes and on our table much more often.

Buckwheat is actually a fruit produced by a plant that is related to rhubarb and sorrel. It's high in all kinds of stuff that is good for you and is really delicious.

Yum.

Just wondering.

2007-05-31T11:55:00.000-07:00

I read in the paper yesterday that 100 years ago, people spent approximately six hours each day cooking and eating. In the 1950s, it took about 2 hours. Several years ago we were down to 30 minutes and today people spend about 20 minutes preparing and eating their evening meal.

The article focused on ready-to-eat food from Safeway and other grocery stores. It talked about 'healthy meals in minutes!' It's hard for me to imagine that something that was prepared miles and miles away, and preserved, and bagged, and shipped, and then chilled or warmed up at the Safeway deli could really be healthy.

I'm just skeptical, I suppose. I see their salads dripping in heavy dressings, and the meat always seems heavily sauced, as well. (What are they hiding under all that goop?) I know that whenever I eat that kind of food I wake up so thirsty my tongue feels inside out. It must have scads of sodium.

What is healthy, anyway? What does it mean to enjoy a healthy meal? Can any lifestyle that demands 20 minute suppers every night really be healthy, over-all? I know that some nights are busier than others, and some nights we have a 20 minute dinner, but I wonder if your life is on that kind of treadmill every single day, how healthy can that be?

I'm just wondering.

Egyptian Kusherie

2007-05-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

My friend is on a "cleanse" and because it can be pretty challenging... you have to think about your food so much... I thought I'd make her one of my favourite cleansing recipes. This is so simple and so delicious. She is not consuming any sweets, including honey, so I substituted dried apricots for honey in the sauce recipe, because I wanted to to be just a touch sweeter.

Egyptian Kusherie
one of my favourite cleansing recipes

Rice and Lentils
2 tbsp oil
1 ¼ cup lentils
3 cups boiling water
1 tsp salt
1 dash pepper
1 ½ cups brown basmati rice
1 cup boiling water

Sauce
¾ cup tomato paste
3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (or equivalent)
½-1 bell pepper, chopped
½ cup celery leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped dried apricots (to replace honey)
½ tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne or red hot pepper flakes, or to taste

Browned Onions
1 tbsp oil
3 onions, sliced in rings
4 garlic cloves.

In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, brown lentils in 2 Tbsp oil, about 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the 3 cups boiling stock and the salt and pepper. (It will make A LOT of noise and splatter when you pour the water in.)
Cook uncovered 10 minutes over medium heat.
Stir in the rice and 1 cup water.
Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes without stirring.
Meanwhile make sauce: Heat all the sauce ingredients together in a medium saucepan.
Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-30 minutes.
To make browned onions, heat oil in a small skillet.
Saute onions and garlic over medium heat till browned.
To serve, put rice lentil mixture on a platter, pour tomato sauce over and top with browned onions.

Enjoy!

Almost Salsa Salad

2007-05-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

This sure went over well at our event this past weekend. And I must say, I thought it was delicious! Once again we didn't scrape a single plate (except for the person who methodically removed every red onion from their serving). I always think that empty plates are a good sign. I'm not sure what we'd do if we created something that everyone left behind. I suppose we'd be horrified and never make it again.

Anyway, I want to post the recipe even though I am leery about posting recipes, especially ones that we've heavily modified or created because we always go by "what looks good."

It used to drive me crazy when I'd ask my mom how to make something and she'd say, "You know, stir it until it feels right," or "cook it just so that it looks good." Anyway, modify this salad until it looks good. If you want some heat, add red pepper flakes to the olive oil. If you really like corn, make that the dominant vegetable instead of the tomatoes. If you don't have red peppers, add green, or yellow.

Enjoy!

Almost Salsa Salad

4 cups diced fresh tomatoes
1 1/2 cups corn (fresh or frozen)
1 1/2 cups black beans
1 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp cumin seed
several cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar or other mild vinegar
1 lime, zested and juiced

Mix together vegetables and cilantro. Warm garlic and cumin in olive oil. Remove from heat and add vinegar, lime juice and zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Adjust all amounts to taste.

We had the opportunity to cook for Mennonite Central Committee Canada this weekend. It was a lot of fun. They are appreciative eaters.

Someone there said, "I end up at a lot of these kinds of things, because of my job. When I tell people about what you do, I say that it is real food.

That is just about the best compliment you could give us, I think. It's what we're aiming for: real food, not processed, not chemically altered, not prepared and bagged and washed and ready to go from 2000 km away. Not made with "essence of" or "flavoured with," but real.

Real food for real people.

Do you know where that tomato came from?

2007-05-23T08:28:00.001-07:00

I realize that when it comes to food, I don't mind buying "out of country" stuff if it is not available here at all. For instance, I don't mind using cinnamon and ginger and cloves, and I don't mind that it isn't grown in Canada.

But it really bothers me to hear that most of our apple products (anything made with concentrate, store bought applesauce, etc.) come from China. And China is the number one exporter of canned tomatoes. If you have a can of tomatoes in your pantry, chances are they were grown and processed in China. And there are sneaky ways to get around the laws governing food processing so that they can even make it look like something was produced in Canada.

It frightens me that we are so losing control of our own food supply. And it bothers me that we have no idea what the rules concerning pesticides and growing practices are out there. And I wonder not only how they treat the land, but how do they treat the people working the land?

In the meantime, the number of farmers on the Prairies is dwindling, and the average age is getting older and older. I can't say I blame people for getting out of farming... it's uncertain, the pay is often far less than you'd make working a construction site, and as soon as your product is sold more cheaply by another country, people switch to save a dollar.

Why else would Walmart be opening grocery sections in all their stores?

My Favourite Dressing

2007-05-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

There are two that I love, actually. One that I am dreaming about, especially after finding a forgotten cache of Manitoba strawberries in the freezer is our own recipe for a simple strawberry dressing.

Strawberry Salad Dressing
1 cup real strawberries (it just won't work with those clamshell Californians, sorry.)
1/2 cup Manitoba honey
1/2 cup cider vinegar.

Whirl this together in a blender and adjust the flavours to your own liking... more sweet? Add honey. More tart? Add vinegar. Want some extra zip? Add a dash of balsamic vinegar. Toss with a simple salad of mixed greens or spinach, nuts, finely sliced red onions and your favourite fruit.

The other is one I got from a friend, which we modified slightly. I almost always have it in my fridge. It is delicious on just about anything and I love it when it's poured over tomatoes, cucumbers and green onions. I usually squeeze just a bit extra grainy dijon into it, because I can't resist mustard.

Sweet Honey Mustard Dressing
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup apple sauce (or cider)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste.

This is also great on a simple romaine salad tossed with seasonal fresh vegetables.

Moving On...

2007-05-15T06:53:00.000-07:00

We have registered our name! I suppose it's about time, but there are all those forms to fill out and tedious paperwork--never our strong suit.

We are excited about the upcoming growing season and plan to experiment with local fruits and vegetables as much as we can. I (Michele) am planning to do the 100-mile diet in the fall so I'll need to be pretty diligant as I prepare for that.

We also have a few new customers lined up in the next month, and as always we are hoping to provide them with the best Manitoba has to offer, with a little help from our neighbouring provinces.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with one of our most-requested recipes.

Lentil Apricot Soup

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dried apricots
1 1/2 cups red lentils
5 cups chicken stock
3 roma (plum) tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Sauté onion, garlic, and apricots in olive oil. Add lentils and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes, and season with cumin, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in lemon juice. Puree 1/2 of the soup in a blender, then return to the pot. Serve.

I use more cumin and more apricots in mine. Also, I just use water because the chicken stock makes no discernable difference and in this way I can make it completely vegan. I often use frozen or a can of tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Gingersnaps

2007-05-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to do a personality test based on cookie choices people make at our events. The people who choose Ginger Snaps generally seem to be the understated, physically active sort who are dressed in earth tones.

We like this recipe because the only saturated fat comes from the egg. They are crispy-chewy and we promise you won't miss the butter.

Cream together:

2/3 c. oil
1 c. white sugar
1 egg
¼ c. molasses

Stir together:

1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. salt

Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, form into balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place
on greased baking sheet and bake at 375 for 11-12 min. Cool on sheet for 10 min. then
cool on rack for another 10 min.

Spicy Lentil-Ginger Soup

2007-05-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

We used to make lunch every Monday at Winnipeg Harvest, the local warehouse-depot for all the foodbanks and soup kitchens in Winnipeg. Basically, we'd roam the warehouse and the cooler and make lunch for about 50 people with whatever we found there--in about 1 1/2 hours.

This is a recipe we created on a day when there wasn't a lot of fresh vegetables at our disposal. The results were pretty darn good. Of course the ginger and the coconut milk keep this soup from being locally produced out here in Manitoba, but I'd say it's still about 95% local.

Spicy Lentil-Ginger Soup

½ package red lentils
1 large onion
½ bunch celery
2 cloves garlic
4 tbsp. grated ginger
2 tsp. red hot pepper flakes
½ can coconut milk
½ cup barley
8 cups boiling water

Pour boiling water over lentils and soak. In Dutch oven, sauté onions, celery, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes until softened-about 5 minutes.

Discard water from lentils and then add the lentils, 8 cups water to the sautéed vegetables. Let simmer until lentils get mushy and vegetables are cooked. Add coconut milk.

Serves 10-12 people.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Slow Food

2007-05-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

The first time I heard about the Slow Food movement, I was hooked. It didn't sound that radical to me... it sounded like the kind of food I was raised on.

When I was a kid, locally produced didn't mean much because that is what you always had. I remember the first time we saw broccoli at the grocery store when it was out of season. I also remember the first strawberries. And when they started selling asparagus year round, I felt like spring had gotten ripped off, somehow. If local grocers dared to sell fruit from other countries when that fruit was in season in the orchards all around us, my mother let them know she thought it was a stupid thing to do.

Slow Food celebrates what the local growers have to offer, it celebrates the process of cooking and preparing that food, and it celebrates eating together in community. On their website, they say that food should be good, clean, and fair.

I like that.

It's true that I sometimes get sucked in by those strawberry-like offerings sold in January, and I've eaten asparagus out of season, but slow food is much more about celebration, and moving in the right direction, rather than following a rigid set of legalistic rules about food.

I like that, too.

Our beginnings

2007-05-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

We've always liked to cook, but it was only after we needed to find caterers for Winnipeg's 2004 Food Security Assembly that we really started cooking together for larger events (outside our weekly family gatherings that feature up to 30 people!)

When we couldn't find people who could cook affordable, healthy, locally produced, mostly organic food with lots of vegetarian and vegan choices, we decided we could take on the task. The result was a lot of happy, well fed people who encouraged us to keep cooking.

And so we have.

This new blog is our attempt to "bump it up a notch" as a friend who attended a recent event we catered said we should. We'll post our recipes and our thoughts on food and cooking here... enjoy!