Farmer's Market Chowder on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

This morning, I presented the following recipe for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry MacLeod.  This was made all with items that I have from this week's farmer's markets and my CSA, Farm Share, Including the chicken stock.

Farmer’s Market Chowder

This can be prepared as a vegetarian option by omitting the bacon and using vegetable stock.

4 ears corn
1 lb tomatillos, husked (Binkley Farms - Sundays at The Forks Farmer's Market)
3-5 potatoes, cubed (God's Acres - Thursdays at the Downtown Farmer's Market)
1 leek, sliced
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup chopped slab bacon (Zinn Farms for Berkshire or Wildfire Farms for Beef Bacon!)
1 red pepper
1 Summer Squash, cubed skin on.
and/or 1 lb patty pan squash or zucchini, sliced or cubed
4 cups stock (vegetarian, chicken, etc)
1-2 roasted jalapeños
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
500 ml whipping cream (for heart healthy recipes, try one tin fat free milk)
salt, to taste

Roast or broil corn, jalapeños, and tomatillos for a few minutes per side.   When cooled, cut corn off of cobs. One method is to place cob upright in the middle of a Bundt pan and cut around. Sauté leek with bacon pieces until leek becomes translucent. Add tomatillos and soup stock.  Cook and purée, using an immersion blender, or leave chunky.  Add corn,  potatoes, red pepper and zucchini/and/or squash and combine. Add spices and bring to a boil. Simmer and cream. Season as needed.  Serve hot.

Enjoy!

To make chicken stock, keep the bones and neck of the chicken and put it it in a stock pot with a few cut up carrots, celery with leaves, 2-3 star anise, cut onions with skin on, 1 tbs peppercorns, 1 + tbs salt, water to cover, thyme, etc.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-8 hours.  Let cool and strain.  If you haven't strained the stock through a cloth, chill and remove fat before portioning to freeze or use.
Please note, using vegetable trimmings if you save them for stock but not Brassica, or cabbage family trimmings.  Those will leave a bitter, gassy flavour.

Silver Screen Food Movies with the Assiniboine Park Conservatory and the MLCC

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 Silver Screen – January 29, 2013

 Last night I had fun at this event showing one of my favourite subjects, food movies and inspired food. Bonnie Tulloch, of Assiniboine Park Conservatory, led the evening with movie clips and information on food.  Scott Strizic of the MLCC prepared excellent beverage pairings and I got to make some yummy dishes to share.

1. Spanglish – Fried Egg and bacon sandwich

To be presented in demo.  Ingredients include local Berkshire bacon,Dijon mustard, Rustic bread, Nature’s Farm eggs and tomato chutney.  

I used Tomato Chutney as fresh tomatoes in January are dreadful.  Mainly, the idea is to make the sandwich your own in the flavours that you will enjoy.

2. Babette’s Feast – Gästebude –  Tarts with Wild Mushrooms, Garlic, Dried Okanagan Cherries & Port

·       Tart shells

·       2 shallots, sliced

·       1 cup sliced wild mushrooms

·       1 head roasted garlic

·       ½ cup dried Okanagan cherries

·       1 cup port

·       1 tbs butter

·       1 tbs olive oil

Sauté shallots in butter and olive oil until soft.  Add mushrooms.  When cooked through, add garlic, cherries soaked in port and deglaze with port.  Cook down and spoon into tart shells and bake according to directions for about 10 – 15 min.  Enjoy!

I love this movie.  I love getting inspired by it and try out new ideas generating from it.

3. Big Night – Risotto

 

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups flavorful mushrooms such as shiitake, chanterelle, or oyster mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed, and cut into half inch to inch pieces
• 2/3 cup brandy, vermouth, or dry white wine
• 5-6 cups chicken stock (use vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
• 1/3 cup of peeled and minced shallots (OR 1/3 cup of yellow or white onion, finely chopped)
• 1 3/4 cups arborio rice or other risotto rice
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or chives

*

Method

1 Bring stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

2 Melt the butter in a deep, heavy, medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and sauté about 5 minutes (if using chanterelles, dry sauté first for a minute or two and let the mushrooms cook in their own juices before adding the butter). Add the rice and stir to combine.

3 Add brandy, bring to a boil, and reduce liquid by half, about 3-4 minutes. Add simmering stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring enough to keep the rice from sticking to the edges of the pan. Stir the rice almost constantly — stirring sloughs off the starch from the rice, making the creamy sauce you're looking for in a risotto. Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup. This process will take about 25 minutes. The rice should be just cooked and slightly chewy.

4 Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or chives.

4. Like Water for Chocolate – Hot chocolate

1 bar Luker Chocolate*
1 litre milk
pinch ground cinnamon or cinnamon stick
pinch dried chipotle chilies
1/3 cup sugar
pinch Hawaiian Red Clay Sea Salt**

*Available in Winnipeg at Dino's Grocery Mart at 460 Notre Dame.


Slowly cook all ingredients except for the Sea Salt. Serve when well incorporated with Red Clay Seal Salt served on the side to bring out the full chocolate flavour.

Enjoy!