Saturday, November 7, 2009

October Soup

I don't know the real name for October Soup. I have no idea where we got this recipe. My friends and I have been eating it for ten years and we've never called it anything else. The first time we had this soup was at a funeral and we've had it every October since, so we just named it October Soup; mostly so we wouldn't have to eat something called Funeral Soup or Death Broth.



October Soup is perfect for October weather because it is made up mostly of root vegetables (local!) and warm spices (great for dropping temperatures). There is a scrumptious spicy Charmoula (see left) to go with it!! Super duper yummy and comforting. Check it out:



Ingredients:
2 Tbs olive oil
3 cups diced onions
2 cloves garlic
1" piece ginger, peeled and finely minced
2 Tsp Kosher salt
1/2 Tsp red pepper flakes
pinch of saffron
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
1 Tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 cups of diced carrots (1/2")
5 cups chicken stock or low sodium chiken broth
1 cup of diced turnips (1/2")
2 cups of diced parsnips (1/2")
2 cups of diced sweet potatoes (1/2")
1 cup of diced celery root (1/2")
16 Oz. canned chick peas, drained & rinsed
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
Heat oil in a soup pot. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and salt; saute until onions are translucent. Add red pepper flakes, saffron, cinnamon, thyme and pepper. Saute for 1 minute. Add carrots and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer carrots until almost tender (approx. 15-20 minutes). Add remaining root vegetables and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. (My carrots took less and my other root veggies took more.) Stir in the chick peas and crushed tomatoes; return to a boil. Season to tast with salt and pepper, thinning with morestock if necessary. Serve with Charmoula.
For Charmoula, mix in a small bowl:


3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshlemon juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
5 cloves garlic, minced
1Tbs paprika
1" piece ginger, peeled and minced
2 Tsp ground cumin
1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to tast


ENJOY!!! (I did!)


Friday, November 6, 2009

Better Homes and Gardens Part 2 Canning

To continue from the freezing section canning can be a great way to preserve fruit, however, those of you who worry about your sugar intake may want to sit most of this one out.

Taken from pages 144-159 of my 1962 Better Homes and Gardens "New" Cook Book, there are two main ways to can fruits and vegetables, sugar or acid. You enemy when canning is bacteria. EVERYTHING IN THE CANNING PROCESS MUST BE STERILE and hostile to bacteria growth. Fruits work well in simple syrup. Lightly boil the fruit and then can in a water bath or pressure cooker. For special treats home made jam works very well. Vegetables can be "pickled" in sugar and vinegar.
It is possible to can vegetables without sugar and vinegar, however, it requires that your canning process uses a pressure cooker and careful attention to the recipe.

Italian Tomato sauce is a great idea for the backyard gardener. Just dedicate a good portion of your garden to plum tomatoes, vine ripe tomatoes, basil and oregano.
There is a large amount of acid in tomatoes that will aid in the canning process.
Create your desired sauce being sure to add appropriate amounts of salt and sugar if called for by the recipe.

While experimenting with our traditional pear jam recipe this year, my wife and I have come up with a new pear jam recipe from Ontario Bartlett Pears.

10 pears, cored and diced finely
3 cups of sugar
1 Lemon very finely diced with rind still attached.
1 tablespoon of fresh minced ginger
1 teaspoon of water

Place the pears and water in a pot to boil on low for 3-5 min being sure to stir often.
Add the sugar, lemon and ginger
When the sugar is added the pears will release a great deal of their water.
Boil down for about 20-25 min until the mixture is thick.
Pack in sterile jars and boil in water bath for at least 20 min.
Be sure to turn the jars upside down for 30s when removing from water bath to kill off any random bacteria.
This batch should not be doubled and should yield approximately 1L of jam spread.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Better Homes and Gardens Part 1 Freezing

Occasionally I must fight back my Anti-American tendencies. Try as some of us might as Canadians to avoid the evils of the U.S.A, every now and then we need to recognize a positive part of what could be a North American heritage. In the home cooking world I can think of no better example than the Better Homes and Gardens "New" Cook Book. As a publication it has evolved over the years, however, my version is circa 1962.
I rely heavily on this book for freezing and canning of seasonal fruits and vegetables.
It covers most of what was considered "normal" crops for post war North America including Beans, Corn, Broccoli, Apples, Blueberries, and Raspberries.

Freezing fruits and vegetables is an essential part of eating locally in Canada. Our growing season is relatively short but that does not mean that we should be completely reliant on warmer lands for 5-6 months every year. Proper freezing and canning should give a bountiful harvest year round with only a minor loss (if any) to flavour and nutritional value.

To avoid copyright infringement I will share just the main procedure from the book on page 162.

The Key to freezing vegetables is to prevent over cooking. Most vegetables need to be blanched for no more than 3-4 min. Once the time is up the vegetables should be plunged into an ice-water bath to stop the cooking. If the vegetables are over cooked you will destroy nutrients, flavour and crispness.

Don't be afraid to experiment and share your harvest with others.
A small backyard garden can yield many bags of beans and other easy-grow vegetables.

Part 2 to come on Canning.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

canning makes it to the music scene...

See them in concert! And eat the fruits of Sunparlour Players labour! How canning got even more delicious...

As the Sunparlour Players kick off a coast-to-coast Canadian tour next week in support of their recent release Wave North (Outside Music), the band is pleased to announce a unique new partnership with Bernardin, Canada's trusted leader in home canning products.

For Andrew Penner, the partnership made sense. The lead singer of Sunparlour Players grew up on a farm in the area of Leamington, outside of Windsor, Ontario, in one of Canada's most favourable growing climates. "With the resurgence of eating local and thinking about where your food is coming from, home canning is one of those things that is really becoming popular again. We've been doing this for a while, selling some of our favourite preserves at our shows when we tour."

"We also love how Bernardin works in the community" continues Andrew Penner. Bernardin supports community coops through education and sponsorship and they also maintain a partnership with Foodshare Toronto, an organization who subsidizes fresh produce, student nutrition programs, community gardening, cooking classes and food workshops.

Local vs. Organic: brief summary

So, there is a new craze in my family. It's called eating no meat, only chicken. My grandma, who was married to an Italian, has become a vegan and has been for quite a long time. I have no idea what is going on but so far I have not been bored, yet of course. It is interesting the things we eat, and I don't care what anyone says about the authenticity of the taste, but chicken meatballs do not appeal to me! That may just be a mental thing...
So, living in Burlington and eating local, so far has not been a problem because so far we have had vegetables and poultry from Ontario and if not Ontario it is definitely from within Canada, unless it is tropical of course (I need my pineapple fix, and my orange juice in the morning).

When Bryan Schultz came in the other day he raised a questions that I took note of that to some this may be basic knowledge and to others, maybe through media and recent trends, people may be confused on the difference between Organic and Local food. Sure, it sounds different when you think about it, but some people put them both together. So I am going to briefly differentiate the two.

Organic:
Food that has been produced naturally with limited pesticides possible. Oraganic has been the conventional way of growing food since the beginning of time, but in the 20th century with the introduction of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified foods, Organic is a new thing to the young generations. Countries like Canada must have certain certifications that qualify food as Organic.
http://www.cog.ca/about/about_organics/organic-standards-and-regulations/
In terms of calling Organic food local, sure you can get Organic food at a local farmer's market, but in the big grocery stores you may find food that has been shipped from California or buy some Organic Florida oranges!

Local:
Buying local food can be done for many reasons. You may want to support your province and what it has to offer in terms of produce, or you might have a great interest in reducing the environmental damage with buying food that is produced in other countries. Local food can be from farmers markets or are all over major grocery stores, but this does not make the food Organic jsut because it was grown 20 minutes away from you. Synthetic chemicals are still used in some food production.

These may be basic understandings but sometimes people think they both go hand in hand with eachother. In putting these two together, there is an organization called Local Food Plus that encourages local food consumtion and encourages farmers to use as little chemicals as possible also there is a little bit of information that concerns U of T and it's cafeteria food. Apparently St. George campus residences at U of T are committed to purchasing only local food. Check it out!
http://www.localfoodplus.ca/what_is_lfp.our_mission.gk

Cheers, Emma

ps. lesson plan coming soon

Monday, November 2, 2009

Frozen bananas, root veggies with stems, and Groundhog Day! Oh Me!






I check my freezer. I find two things. Well, three things if you count ice. The first thing is frozen bananas (not from the farm in Milton). The next thing I find is no surprise: Pizza Pops. I've been on a perpetual Pizza Pop diet since September 10. I decide it's time for a trip to the grocery store. Now all I have to do is find one.

I never shop during regular business hours so the closest grocery store is Metro. I know how to find hte pizza pops, but I'm always a little lost in the produce section. my mission is to find the ingredients for October Soup: turnip, sweet potato, celery root, parsnip, etc... Basically a bunch of things I've never seen before (let alone paid money for).

First on my list: carrots. Wandering abou the produce section, I begin to wonder if there is any kind of system employed for displaying fruits and vegetables; there doesn't seem to be. My mission is starting to feel more like a scavenger hunt.

I heard somewhere that toxic chemicals are used to burn off carrot stems, so I'm trying to find carrots with stems. I find a bag of carrots - the big, thick, bitter kind my sister feeds her horse. No stems. Product of USA. No luck. Then I see a bag of baby carrots. No stems. Product of USA. No luck. I finally find a bunch of carrots with stems. They're organic, but they're product of USA and cost $2.99/bunch. I'm sick of looking for carrots and fairly sure I can find other local ingredients for this soup, so I grab a couple of bunches and start looking for turnips.

You would think that root vegetables would be beside other root vegetables, but they're not. So, I go back to the beginning of the produce section and start over again. There I see a bunch of carrots. WITH stems. Not organic. Product of Canada. $1.49/bunch. I go back to the organic section, empty my carrot bag and head back to the beginning of the produce section to begin again, again.

I'm starting to think this eating local thing isn't as easy as I thought it was going to be.



(Next week I PROMISE! October Soup recipe)