Sunday's Event

Escargot, Ahi Tuna, Oysters and Calimari all available at Gimli Fish on Dufferin in Winnipeg.

Sunday's Menu
Surf, Turf and more of the Earth

Surf
Ahi Tuna Udon Spoons
Oysters Rockefeller
Calimari with Chipotle Aioli
Escargot with Pesto Butter

Earthy
Porcini Mushroom Consommé

Light on the Earth
Avocado, Grape Tomatoes, Balsamic Reduction

Turf and More Earth
Bison tenderloin with Ras el Hanout and Blood Orange Reduction
Roasted Yams
Turkish Eggplant with Yoghurt

Heavenly Delights
Pavlova with Meyers Lemon curd

Within Earth's Orbit
Assorted Cheeses with Montreal Baguettes and Fresh Dates

MLCC Assiniboine Conservatory Fundraiser

(Google Images)

Last week I had the pleasure of preparing Nibbles and Noshes for a fundraising event for the Assiniboine Park Conservatory held at the MLCC. It is truly delightful to share recipes and food ideas with an interested group of people and to learn about plants from around the world. The following is what I prepared for that event. I will be involved in other events for the Assiniboine Park Conservatory and will post them here.

Enjoy!

Nibbles and Noshes

1) Mushroom Toasts

2 cups sliced fresh mixed mushrooms
1 head roasted garlic
4-5 Shallots, diced
2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. Butter
1/3 cup cream
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 cup dry white wine
salt and pepper
Crostini (sliced baguettes) or bouchés

Sauté shallots in olive oil until translucent. Add sliced Shitake Mushroooms and sauté on medium high heat until they begin to brown in the butter. Add roasted garlic, smoked paprika and white wine. Let cook down a little. Add cream and season to taste. Spoon onto crostini and toast in oven or into bouchés and serve while hot.

Enjoy!

2) Soba Spoons

1 pkg Buckwheat Soba Noodles
2 tsp good Dijon Mustard
1 tsp grainy mustard
1-2 tsp good soy sauce
1 inch grated fresh ginger
2-3 tbs white vinegar
1/2 tsp white sugar
2 green onions, finely chopped
drizzle sesame oil

Cook Soba noodles in unsalted boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain in cold water immediately. Drain completely. Drizzle with sesame oil to prevent sticking and set aside to chill.

In a larger bowl, mix grated ginger, vinegar, mustards, soy sauce, sugar, finely chopped green onions and a drizzle of sesame oil. When ready to serve, gently mix noodles with sauce. With a fork, twirl a bite-sized amount of dressed noodles and place on a Chinese soup spoon. Place spoons on a platter and serve.
Enjoy!

3) Ski Queen medley

Gjetost Goat Cheese
Roasted garlic
Toasted Pine nuts
Chopped cilantro
Baguette slices into crostini size slices or sourdough bread

Roast heads of garlic until fully caramelized. On a platter, place garlic heads or cloves, toasted pine nuts, chopped cilantro and brick or slices of Ski Queen Gjetost goat cheese.

To assemble, spread roasted garlic on bread topped with cheese, pine nuts and cilantro.
Enjoy!



4) Bison Carpaccio
Recipe By: Karen
Serving Size: 10
Preparation Time: 0:20

8 ozs tenderloin frozen
2 cloves garlic minced
1/3 c pomegranate molasses
1/3 c vinegar (shallot, raspberry, etc)
2/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp truffle oil optional
1/4 tsp truffle salt optional
1 tbsp fig preserve (or pear)

Mix last 7 ingredients together and set aside. Thinly slice tenderloin piece.
You can use bison, elk or beef tenderloin. Arrange slices on a platter and
drizzle vinaigrette over meat. Garnish with fresh berries or green onions.
Serve with baguette slices or water crackers.
Enjoy!
—————
Per serving: 128 Calories; 14g Fat (99% calories from fat); 0g Protein; 0g
Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 0mg Sodium




5) Spanikopita Triangles
Recipe By: Karen
Serving Size: 48
Preparation Time: 2:00

1 pkg filo dough
2 pkgs frozen spinach
1 white onions chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 c mushroom sliced
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp paprika
3 1/2 tbspsolive oil
1 1/2 c feta cheese crumbled
1 egg
pepper to taste
1/3 c butter
Thaw pastry in package. In advance, prepare filling. Sauté onion and garlic
until translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté. Add thawed spinach and
spices. Cook on medium-high heat until some of the water has cooked off.
Add grated feta. Mix in one beaten egg. Remove from heat and cool.
To prepare pastries: Heat oven to 350F. Dampen tea towel. Cut rolled
pastry into four equal parts and lay out on cutting board. Cover with
dampened towel. Melt butter and set aside with pastry brush. Fill pastries in
desired shapes (triangles, pockets, in muffin or cupcake tins, etc). Brush
pastries with melted butter before filo turns papery. Bake until golden, about
15 minutes.
—————
Per serving: 36 Calories; 3g Fat (77% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 1g
Carbohydrate; 10mg Cholesterol; 76mg Sodium

Blood Orange/Meyer Lemon Marmalade

If there is a food that makes you get through the winter and feel alive, I'm certain that its this Blood Orange/Meyer Lemon Marmalade.

I'm making a huge batch of this today. Making marmalade is labour intensive but with great results. I've put a small batch recipe up as I'm making marmalade from whole cases of blood oranges and Meyers Lemons.


Ingredients:
Fruit - 8 whole blood oranges, thinly sliced (4 cups cut)
3 whole Meyers lemons, thinly sliced (1 ½ cups cut)
Orange juice or Water - 4 cups of either. I use orange juice instead of water, for extra flavor.
Sugar - about 4 cups of sugar
Pectin

1. Select the fruit

If you live in Florida or southern California you can go pick your own Oranges in January and February! Otherwise, you'll have to go to the grocery store for the oranges and lemons. This is NOT part of the Manitoba 100 mile diet. I went to F.O.O.D. for my organic Blood Oranges and Meyers Lemons.

Pick fresh oranges and lemons that are not soft, moldy or discolored.

2. Wash the fruit
Canning really requires everything to be clean.

3. Get the jars and lids washed

I rinse the jars and lids in the large pot of boiling water after washing. Leave them in the hot water for a few minutes.

4. Remove the outer part of the peel

Take a look at Step 10 - if you are going to use method 10a, then with a vegetable peeler, remove only the coloured part of the peel and set it aside. This outer portion of the peel is what give marmalade its bitter taste. If you like it, chop it finely and set it aside. I chopped it with a double mesa luna.

If you don't like the bitterness, then you are going to use the method Step 10b, so just then just peel the fruit with your hands as shown in step 5 (and skip step 4)

5. Remove the remaining rind

Hold the citrus fruit with the stem end up and using a very sharp knife, cut off the pith (white part)and discard.

6. Slice the oranges and lemons in half

Cut the fruit in half, across the segments.

The tough, white part in the center must be cut out and discarded.

Save any juice that leaks out.

7. Chop the oranges and lemons

Next, slice the two halves into thin slices

And then chop the slices up a bit! Remove and discard any seeds or tough parts of the orange that you find in the process.

Save any juice that leaks out.

8. Measure out the sugar

You'll need to follow the directions that come with the pectin, but generally, the lower sugar pectin recipes call for about 4 cups of sugar per box, and the regular pectin calls for 7 cups of sugar.

Mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup of sugar and keep this separate from the rest of the sugar.

9. Mix the chopped oranges with the pectin

Stir the pectin into the chopped fruit. Put the mix in a big pot and set aside for a moment.

10. Cook the fruit - With Peels or Not?

Peels add the bitterness to marmalade, but some people do not like marmalade because it is bitter.

10a. With the Peels:

Bring the mix to a boil. Cover it, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the chopped fruit and simmer for 10 minutes more.

10b. Without the peels

If you want a less bitter taste, skip the preceding and instead place the chopped fruit and 4 cups of water or orange juice in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes

11. Add the sugar and return to a boil

Add the sugar and bring the mixture back to a full boil.

12. Bring the mixture to a full boil

Stir the mix and bring it to a full boil, hard, for one minute.

13. Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on

Fill them to within 1/4 inch of the top, wipe any spilled jam off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into the boiling water canner!

14. Process the jars in the boiling water bath

Keep the jars covered with at least 1 inch of water. Keep the water boiling. Boil them for at 15 minutes.

15. Done

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight)

It may take up to two weeks for the marmalade to set and thicken up. It will be runny until then!

Once cooled, they're ready to store. They last about 18 months. After that, the marmalade gets darker in colour and starts to get runny. It is still safe to eat. So eat them in the first 12 to 18 months after you prepare them!

In Winnipeg, I've also seen Blood Oranges at DeLuca's Specialty Food Store, Restaurant, Catering, Cooking School 956 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, MB