Garlic scapes

I've never grown garlic before but my friend Hugh grows tons of it, enough that he can sell quite a bit to the local organic produce market, and still eat garlic every day, that's alot of garlic. He was very kind to give me some garlic last year, I planted the cloves in the fall....and it grew into nice large plants...if the size of the plant is any indication of the size of garlic then I should have some really large heads of garlic.

The garlic scape, if left alone, will turn into the flower, which I don't want. I want all the energy to go to the garlic, not to the flower, so I cut the scape, which is also edible.

I grilled it on the barbeque, not the best option, it was a little tough, next time it will be much better if I steam it or stir fry it, but it still tasted very good. With the garlic scapes, I grilled some zucchini and eggplant. I chopped the scapes, quarted some tomatoes, drizzled the whole thing with oilive oil and balsamic, sprinkled it with feta and with that a salad was made...delicious!

How to sprout a sprout

Love sprouts? I sure do. In addition to being very good for you I have discovered that they are also very easy to sprout. I chose organic red clover seeds as my first attempt at sprouting.

I used one tablespoon of organic red clover seeds.

I placed the seeds in a 1 litre mason jar, covered it with some white tulle and secured it with an elastic. Add tepid water and soak the seeds overnight at room temperature.

Drain and for 3 days you rinse the seeds four times a day. Fill the jar with tepid water and drain through the top, which in my case is tulle. Do not use anything that might rust, like metal, or mold like cotton.

Day 4 the seeds are just starting to sprout. Keep rinsing them.

Day 5 the shoots were longer and I placed them under my growing lights because the sun was nowhere to be found. This will turn the little leaves green.

When the leaves are green, which happens really fast, for me it was at the end of day 5, you can start eating them. I used mine in a cheese sandwich and I have some left to add to my salad tonight for dinner. I don't know how long they will last in the fridge but I think they are quite fragile and should be used within a day or two after the leaves have gone green.

Veggie Casserole

I finally finished a book I could not put down so all is back to normal...well my normal. Now don't go thinking it was a great literary novel...just a good old spy novel...

Anyway back to my real life ... which today is veggie casserole. Forget the hamburger helper... this is real.

Cut an assortment of veggies, whatever is in your fridge. If all you have are mushrooms well then this would be a mushroom casserole. I sauteed the veggies in about a teaspoon of butter and 2 tablespoons or so of water, you can use more butter, which will taste better but I have a cholesterol problem...

Cook some pasta according to the directions on the package, I cooked about two cups of bow tie pasta in lots of well salted water.

While the pasta is cooking and the veggies are cooking make a bachamel sauce...I know fancy right? Well it's really just a white sauce, which is substituted for condensed soup. Homemade without the can and it tastes much better.

I made the sauce by melting 2 tablespoons for butter, then I added two tablespoons of flour, over low heat, I cooked that for a few minutes, then added 2 cups of milk, some salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Stir constantly, bring to a boil, the sauce should be like gravy, if it resembles wallpaper paste add some more milk.

OK, so now you have your bachamel sauce, oh sorry I forgot I added about 2 oz of shredded cheddar to mine and some dried basil, you don't have to but I had it on hand. You have your cooked veggies and you have your cooked pasta, al dente and drained. Just put it all together and pour it all into a casserole dish, top with parmesean cheese or any type of cheese...I didn't use too much, again the cholesterol thing...

Bake at 350F until bubbly...

I made enough for 4, add some buns and a salad and you have a delicious and thrifty dinner, of course there are only two of us but I can't seem to cook for just two...

This is a simple basic casserole, want to make it tuna casserole? Add tuna. Chicken casserole? Add some cooked chicken. There are no rules so make it whatever you want it to be...

Perfect French fries

I am lucky to have a very good Irish friend, actually a whole family, but today my post is about just one of the family, Deirdre, a beautiful Irish lass, with bright blue smiling eyes, and she adores potatoes. I mean adores potatoes. She has been known to have fries and a baked potato, at lunch, on the same plate.

She makes the best roast potatoes ever, well Deirdre tells me her moms are better, but I've only had Deirdre's and they are fantastic. But again, today's post is about French fries, and it was Deirdre who showed me how to make them perfect. And it is thanks to Deirdre that my diner, Magpie's, is quickly getting the "best fries" in town reputation.

Some of you may know the secret already but if you don't, the perfect French fry is double fried.

First take a handsome guy to cut the fries.

Soak the cut fries in cold water for at least 30 minutes.

Drain well and fry them at 325F for a few minutes, you don't want to change the color, you just want them to cook through.

Then when you are ready for them you increase the oil temperature to 375F and fry the potatoes until golden brown and crispy, toss with sea salt right away, and serve.

My sister always says that if she is going to eat something "bad" it better taste really good and be worth the calories.

So remember this .... a fresh cut double fried French fry has the same calories as a frozen for who knows how long, over processed, stored in a plastic bag french fry that has been fried just once, so which would you choose?

Summer in a bowl

...even with the longer days summer seems a long way off but with a little bit of this and little bit of that I was able to capture the essence of summer in my bowl.

I had a scant cup of dried chick peas that I wanted to be rid off, so I soaked, boiled and cooled them, then into the bowl. Half of a tomato which I diced and tossed into the bowl. Half a yellow pepper, sliced and into the bowl. About a quarter of a long cucumber, peeled, diced and into the bowl. About a cup of cilantro, to lazy to chop it so I used it as salad greens, just the leaves, and it went into the bowl. Toss the whole thing with olive oil, vinegar, but I think fresh lime would have been better, salt and pepper and there you have it, summer in a bowl.

What's up with this weather?

Spring refuses to spring....the wind, the low temps, the sideways never ending rain, it seems to be going on forever. The ground is drenched, so going outside is not an option. I walk the dog because he begs me with his eyes and I come back drenched, ugh!!! very depressing. The only thing to do in this weather is sit inside, eat copious amounts of food and watch a movie or better yet watch moviesss.



As much as I like to eat, I'm not always in the mood to cook but eat we must. I had some leftover bits of this and that like black beans, sour cream, cherizo....



I think nachos and movies sounds just about right as the rain beats against the windows.



On the way home I stopped for tortilla chips and the rest I had on hand, leftover nachos....



I topped the chips with chopped cherizo, shredded cheese and black beans, served it up with a side of fresh salsa and sour cream and dinner was served.







The fresh salsa I make is also called "Pico de Gallo" and it's really easy, here is how I do it:



3 tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 small purple onion, finely chopped

1 seeded jalapeno, finely chopped

1/2 cup firmly packed cilantro, finely chopped

the juice of one lime

salt to taste

1 teaspoon chili powder



Mix all ingredients well and serve.

Shrove...Fat...Pancake... Tuesday

Final chance to finish off all that butter and cream before lent...well that's how the story goes...

So how did I celebrate Fat Tuesday??? With banana, chocolate chip pancakes and blackberry syrup...at the diner and at home, yum!

Start with your typical buttermilk pancake recipe...buttermilk, egg, brown sugar, butter...

Add flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips, mix, but not too much, lumps are fine...

Melt some butter into a frying pan or grill, pour pancakes, slice some bananas and place on top...and flip when bubbles start to show...

Serve banana side up, add a dollop of butter, a dusting of icing sugar and some warm syrup....

These are so yummy...give them a try, fat Tuesday or not!

Braised pork

These boneless loin chops are an inexpensive cut of meat but boy are they bland and tough. I tried to just fry them but that did not work so well unless of course you are want to strengthen your jaw, chew, chew and chew some more...

Braising these gives them some flavour and makes them tender enough to eat with a fork.

All you need are some pork loins, salt, pepper, rosemary, sage, garlic, white wine, and broth.

Salt, pepper and brown the pork on medium high heat.

Remove the pork, lower the heat and add the chopped garlic, sage and rosemary. Stir for a few minutes being careful not to burn the garlic.

De glaze the pan by adding the wine and broth (water will also work), stirring up the brown bits, bring to a boil and boil for a few minutes. You want enough liquid so the pork is almost covered.

Lower the heat to simmer and put the pork back in the pan, cover and simmer for about an hour, until the pork is very tender, flipping the pork a few times during the process.

Remove the pork and keep warm under foil. Turn the heat on high and reduce the pan juices until thick about 20 minutes...did you let it reduce to much? just add a little more water, nothing to worry about. Lower the heat again and place the pork back in the pan, turn once or twice to cover the pork.

Serve with mashed potatoes and veggies.

Easy and delicious and this method also works really well with chicken, just remember that it has to simmer really, really low. One word of caution...careful with the salt at the beginning of the dish because as the juices reduce the flavour concentrates and can become quite salty if you added too much at the beginning. You can always add some salt at the end if needed.

In the the kitchen

I'm having a Valentine's special dinner event at Magpie's Diner so into the test kitchen...

I made homemade ravioli, pasta and filling for the first time and definitely a keeper.

The filling is made with ground chicken thigh meat, Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and nutmeg. When I make it at the shop I will saute the whole thing and then put it through the processor which I didn't do this time. Having a smooth filling will make it easier to fill the ravioli. If you want to try this make sure you make your pasta quite thin, I didn't and the ravioli took too long to cook and the filling did not really stand out.

I had every intention of taking a picture before I ate.....

but I went back for seconds.... here is my homemade ravioli on a dirty plate.

I also made a Belgian endive and sliced apple salad with a honey and Dijon vinaigrette, topped with diced beets, toasted walnuts and crumbled blue cheese. Again very good but I will make a few changes. I think a tart apple and toasted pecans will taste better. I used a gala apple which was a bit too sweet with the dressing and beet and the walnuts were not crunchy enough, but it was still very tasty.

Stay tuned for the rest of the menu....

Brown Sugar

Have you ever started baking only to find out you have run out of an ingredient? Now don't tell me...I know already! I should have all my ingredients ready before I start baking to avoid this very problem. Well smart I'm not so that explains that!

Anyway I was reading one of my many favorite blogs, Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op and read a post about making brown sugar, it's dead simple! I made only enough for some butter tart squares and it turned our really well.

I added 2 tablespoons of molasses to a cup of sugar. Next time I'll only use 1 tablespoon, it came out quite dark.

Then I mixed it with a fork, which didn't work very well, so I used the best tools I have, my hands, and a bigger bowl, mixed for a few minutes, and there it is, brown sugar.

Give it try, it's really very simple and tastes just like brown sugar, actually better, it has more flavour.

Banana Muffins

It's been some time since my last post but with lots going on I'm finding it hard to spend time on the computer.

And to top it all off I've been down in the dumps for a little while. The diner has been quite slow and I was getting worried, where oh where are my customers?
A new bistro opened up a little while ago and together with the new Tim Horton's, Magpie's has suffered. So I've been thinking of extending my hours, opening for dinner once or twice a week...wondering all the while, really? More hours? How am I going to pull this off?

I've decided against all that, I'm just going to stick to my plan, my hours, my menu. I have seen some increase in my revenue over the last week and I'm confident the novelty of the new restaurants will wear off and things will go back to normal, well somewhat normal...


Business aside, what else is normal for me? Baking muffins! It's been storming here...a nice day or two followed by huge winds and sideways rain, perfect baking weather, try these next time the wind and rain picks up in your neck of the woods.


Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins - slightly modified from the Joy of Baking website


1 cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
3 ripe large bananas - approx 1 1/2 cup
1 tsp vanilla


Preheat oven to 350 F.

Butter or spray a muffin pan that bakes 6 jumbo muffins, however a regular 12 muffin pan will work.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and chocolate chips.
In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, until just combined.

DO NOT OVER MIX, lumps are fine.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake about 30 to 35 for the large muffins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and cool for a few more minutes. With coffee, tea or a big glass of cold milk, this is a great "pick me up" .

mom, dad, what's for dinner?

Chicken and potatoes, blah! How boring!

Not this chicken and potatoes.

Look at these colors. Purple, red and white potatoes, a yam, some garlic, some olive oil and some sage. Three leg and thigh chicken pieces, drizzled with olive oil and topped with garlic and sage. Salt and pepper the works to taste.

Roast at 350 to 375 for about an hour, tossing and turning every 20 minutes or so and voila!

Chicken and potato, this is not your regular boring chicken and taters.

Is your mouth watering yet?

And best of all the potatoes (not the yam) and the sage is from my backyard and the garlic is from my friend's backyard about 4 blocks from here. The garlic was given to me to plant but I couldn't resist using it, this time, I promise to plant the rest.

How wonderful!

Drying figs

I almost forgot about the figs. I don't know how I could forget because figs are my all time favorite fruit. I start testing the figs for ripeness in early June, way too early, but I'm so impatient and can hardly stand the wait that I must touch them, all the time.

It had been about three weeks since I last checked the figs for ripeness, I was inside, having some tea when I let out a yell, "the figs"....

Ran out and wouldn't you know it the birds got most of them. I was able to pick about 10 all the while cussing under my breath but happily I ate a few right off the tree and then decided to sacrifice some to the dehydrator.

I was so worried that they would not dry properly that I was checking the dehydrator almost every hour. They dried OK but as my blog friend Said the Hobbit noted, it's hardly worth the effort, and I agree. As with other fruit you really have to stay on top of the drying. Often the fruit dries quicker than anticipated and it's also not as sweet as you might think.

On a positive note...while the figs were drying the house had a wonderful sweet aroma, very pleasant indeed.

Frugal drink

My diner is supported by some wonderful customers. There is one customer that for some time would call in and ask that I put a large coffee aside, you see she wanted it cold. After doing this for about two weeks I finally asked her why she wanted cold coffee....

She puts it in the fridge and pours it over ice for an iced coffee drink.

Oh my gosh, I often throw out pots of coffee when we close. In winter I always pour a cup for my ride home but summer is too hot for coffee.







So now, if I have good leftover coffee when we close I pour it into a travel mug, add some vanilla, sugar and cream, bring it home, pour it over ice, stir and enjoy.





How fabulous! Especially with a banana chocolate chip muffin...recipe will follow soon.

Zucchini

You probably already know what happens if you turn your back on your zucchini plants only for a day or two, they grow to incredible sizes.




This zucchini is to big to saute and serve as a side dish, it will be have big seeds and spongy meat, but it's perfect for cream of zucchini soup.

Roughly chop the zucchini as well as a medium peeled potato which will act as a thickener, an onion and some garlic.



Saute an onion and garlic in some olive oil.







Then add the zucchini and potato.

Add enough chicken stock to cover the veggies, add some salt and pepper, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook until the veggies are soft.

Using a stick blender, cream the the veggies, add some cream, not much, a tablespoon of pesto if you have it, or add some fresh herbs, like basil, thyme or tarragon, reheat and serve with a slice of French bread, heaven.