Brown Bread & Nostalgia

The Irish are always accused of being overly nostalgic and maybe this affects all who visit there. It's cold and wet now in Vancouver. This time of year always reminds me of my time in Ireland. Not that the sun never shone when I was there. It definitely did. But when I moved there in mid-September 1995, I soon found myself in the middle of a dark, wet and windy October. I'm shooting Irish Brown Bread at the moment, the perfect antidote to cold and windy weather. I can't help think of that time, and of  the landscape, the people and the magic that inhabits the place. Here's a few detail shots from my current shoot.

Ready for some baking?

I just completed a review of Julian Day's Classic Artisan Baking for cookthatbook.com. I really enjoyed working through the recipes in this book and making pictures of them. With lots of favourites, old and new, I really recommend this book for anyone who loves to bake.  Here's one of my favourite shots from the shoot. Luscious raspberry jam for a riff on a bakewell tart.  To see more, you can check out the full review here.

Happy Baking!

It's that time of year...

Time for canning. Although I'm a real newbie, I'm excited to be working my way through The Preservation Kitchen by Paul Virant. I spent this past long weekend making Sweet Pickled Tomatoes, Pickled Fennel and Pear and Vanilla Aigre-Doux. My review will appear shortly on cookthatbook.com once these lovely pickles and preserves have had some time to mature. If the fun and enjoyment I had making these is anything to go by, they should taste fabulous.

Chic Pique-Nique: Le Dîner en Blanc

Last night I attended an event that I've been looking forward to for weeks. To say that Dîner en Blanc was this picnic planner's dream come true would not be an understatement. Dreamy secret location. Check. Elegantly dressed people. Check. French Food and Wine. Picnic Baskets! Check.

Founded in Paris 22 years ago, Dîner en Blanc happens one night a year. Friends gather together to eat and drink an elegant picnic, all dressed in white in a secret location revealed just hours before the event itself.

The undertaking was not without commitment. In addition to their white outfits, and their picnic, participants bring their own white tables and chairs plus their own proper dishes and glassware. (Proper in this case means china and real glass.)

In Vancouver guests also had the option to buy a prepared dinner from non-other than Top Chef Chef Dale McKay. Now I'm not saying I'm a Top Chef but I was not about to refuse a challenge. The official Dîner en Blanc list of things to bring, read as follows : "A picnic basket comprised of quality menu items and a china dinner service including proper stemware and flatware." Oh yes. GAME ON!

Three weeks ago, we began to plan. Super G communed with his inner prop master and sprung into action. He found brilliant white chairs at Ikea. A very clever pop-up table at Canadian Tire. We raided my mother's cupboard for white plates and linen. I dug out a beautiful restaurant-style white tablecloth I have never had occasion to use. And of course we started to put together our outfits and the small details involved.

I started thinking about the menu. It had to be French, it had to be practical for transport and plating. In the spirit of the event, and in keeping with my own picnicking philosophy - only elegant and practical containers.  A fabulous buttery Quiche Lorraine - what could be more quintessentially picnicky? For dessert I wanted to be a bit more daring. I came upon the idea of crème caramel - so French - and I decided to do them in small Weck Jars so that I could seal the containers after making them and transport them easily, doing the renversement on the plate at the dinner for the final pièce de résistance. (These are the things that make me happy!)

Cooking was much more fun than shopping and after trying on what seemed to be every white piece of white clothing in the Lower Mainland, almost going snow blind from the experience, I finally settled on my outfit. Now back to the food.

Paté was a must and so a trip to Oyama Sausages was in order where decided on a  smooth and creamy Paté de Cognac and a more rustic Paté de Campagne. We also picked up an amazing Saucisson Sec. Trés bon.

Finally the finishing table touches, the flowers, glassware, and a few tiny chocolates for ápres dîner and of course the baguette were assembled. The task of packing began. It was important to be self-sufficient and compact in our kit as we would be arriving to the picnic (as per the rules) en masse and by public transit carrying everything with us.

Super G slung the pop-up table over his shoulder and carried the two chairs and I rigged up a little trolley for my basket. I had a smaller bag for breakables which I carried with me and finally a small hand-held basket with the flowers. It was time to dress up and get out there!

We had been told to be at the Main Street Skytrain Station at 6pm. We arrived and promptly saw a few other people in white. Gradually a larger group assembled. We met our table leader and checked in. It was all very organized and efficient. We were given drinks tickets for our purchased wine so we could collect it quickly when we arrived at the dinner location.  There was a bit of waiting around but the sun was shining and none minded. It was a pleasure to simply soak up the scene.

With our leader heading the posse, we all hopped on the sky train to our mystery location. At this point we knew only that we'd be going to the Burrard Skytrain Station in the heart of downtown Vancouver but we still did now know our final destination. It was quite a laugh to see the looks on peoples faces as the hundred or so of us piled onto the train, all in white and with all our accessories.

From the Burrard Station we set off on foot and found our groups number growing as other groups from other areas converged on this point. It gradually became clear where we were headed, the home of the Olympic Torch, Jack Poole Plaza at the Vancouver Convention Centre. At the edge of downtown, on the water, it has a spectacular view of the North Shore mountains - a simply stunning, iconic location.

Without delay we found our designated spot, all organized and directed by our table leader Evelyn, and promptly set up our tables. Everywhere people were doing the same and it was wonderful to see the creativity in table settings and outfits alike.

To the sweet and beautiful music of Josh aka that-guy-who-sings-La-Vie-en-Rose-at-Granville-Island we dined, shared each other's food and watched the sun go down.

The entire menu went down a treat and to my great happiness the crème caramel turned out of its dish perfectly.

By this time it was dark, and time for sparklers! We were each handed a sparkler and at 9:35, 1200 people lit them together creating a beautiful glowing mass which signalled the kick off of the dancing. Les Noces Gitanes from Paris, played a sort of new type of Gypsy Kings thing with the odd riff on Ukranian dancing music. It was great! The party had just begun.

Spaghetti with Pesto & Roasted Garden Tomatoes

Here we are in August and gradually I've been harvesting tomatoes. This is my first year as an urban gardener and I have three tomato pots, two red cherry varieties and an heirloom, yellow pear. I guess my expectations were that I'd have a huge harvest and I'd literally be canning for months to use them all. Not that I'm disappointed. I've been picking them off in ones and twos for the most part but recently I was able to harvest one entire limb of a plant. I'm sure to seasoned gardeners this is not a big deal, but for me, it felt like a huge windfall.

But what to do with this bounty? Suddenly the pressure was on and now I felt that whatever these tomatoes went into had to be special, something I'd never done before, something amazing, because I'd grown these babies with my own hands. Today hunger and lack of groceries overtook me and so the tomatoes became the focus of my lunch. Something simple replaced something monumental.

So I roasted the tomatoes in a hot oven for a few minutes until they got tender and then tossed them into some pasta which I'd coated with some pesto from this year's basil plants. I freeze the pesto in ice cube trays so I have a small portion ready to use when I need it.

Simple, delicious and quick. And the tomatoes tasted so much the better knowing they came from my balcony. Next year who knows what will happen, but today, despite expectations, I was pretty happy with the delicious dish that found me. Although I may have some explaining to do on the home front when himself arrives home and finds I've eaten them all.

Wordless Wednesday: Cubanelle Harvest

Summer Small Plates

It's no secret that I could easily live on small bites. It's definitely my preferred style of eating. Casual, relaxed and the the opportunity to try just a little bit of everything. Why would I eat any other way? Here in Vancouver we are having some very warm days, particularly this last week. So no way do I want to put on the oven. We're still waiting for our own tomatoes. They continue to show promise and we've harvested them in twos and threes but we are still not quite at salad production levels yet. So I thought we'd practice with some nice store bought, local,  mini San Marzanos and make a nice Caprese. The basil was freshly harvested from our own garden.

We picked up some Bocconcini at Zara's in the Granville Island Public Market and while we where there took the opportunity to purchase some of their delicious pasta. Ravioli stuffed with Butternut Squash seemed to be all the rage in the last few years and even though we seem to see it everywhere I can't get tired of this combination.

I simply cooked the pasta in water in a shallow pan for about 3 minutes and then drained the water and removed the pasta. In the same pan I melted some butter and threw in some sage leaves and then added the pasta back to the pan and tossed for 2 minutes or so. Luxurious and delicious.

No stop to Granville Island would be complete without a visit to Oyama Sausage Company.  The thing I like most about this place is when standing in line you can meet someone from every country that ever made a sausage. Some Spanish Serrano and one of my all-time favourite charcuterie items Rosette de Lyon made this meal complete.

What are your favourite summer dishes?

Garden Harvest

Here we are on the 30th of July and the garden is starting to show fruit. We've already had some bountiful harvests of lettuce but our first tomatoes are starting to appear. Along with the beautiful basil, we'll be enjoying a nice salad soon.

Coming Soon: Meringues

I'm preparing for another cookbook review which will appear soon over at cookthatbook.com. I'm tackling Classic Artisan Baking by Julian Day. So far I'm loving this book but I won't say any more other than to give you a glimpse of today's project: meringues.

UPDATE: (Oct 17, 2012) The review is now complete. Check it out here.

Farmer's Markets and a New Favourite Thing

We've been picnicking at the Trout Farmer's Market recently. It makes for a lovely early morning bike ride. Bit of shopping. Coffee. Grazing. Nice.

Two recent trips to the Trout Lake Farmer's Market have me smitten with something new. Garlic scapes. I'm not sure if I'm the last person in Vancouver to discover these but I'm still going to shout about it. I'm loving them grilled on the barbecue and then tossed with lemon, olive oil and salt and pepper. I love the mellow, nutty flavour.

©2012HelenaMcMurdo_ScapesontheGrill

Do you have some yummy ideas for preparing garlic scapes that you would like to share?

Beautiful Eggs

Having some fun today with a new lighting set up. I think eggs might be one of favourite things to photograph.

Strawberry Custard Tart

When I was sixteen I worked in a bakery. Among the specialties were some tiny strawberry tarts filled with bavarian cream, topped with strawberries and a strawberry glaze. I thought of this immediately when I was deciding what to do with all those strawberries. I made a larger version with a pâte sablée from a book I'm currently in the process of reviewing for  Cookthatbook.com. It uses almonds, flour, butter and an egg and I love the richness it brings.  I made a custard with egg yolks, milk, and a bit of flour and then arranged the strawberries on top. Although I made a glaze, ultimately I decided to use just a drizzle.  The custard made this rather gooey and delicious.