In a Pickle with Master Preserver Jennifer Davidson

It was a fine day yesterday at Terralicious as we watched and learned while Jennifer whipped up two different savory preserves and taught our class all we needed to know to make perfect savory preserves. Each class member went home with lots of new knowledge and complementary jars of Jennifers famous Green Tomato Pickally and Roasted Red Pepper Jelly. Photos of Jennifer at the stove and on the wall screen via our over-the-stove camera. Jennifer's next class at Terralicious, on October 21st, will be all about preserving falls sweet treasures. As for me, I'm hoping for a taste of those delectable Drunken Pears!!

Oh My, It must be Fall

Fall in Terralicious fields and that of our fellow community farmers at Haliburton Farm is glorious this fall with the sun shining brightly. Sandy Grayson took these beautiful photos, featuring Farmer Ray's eye-poppingly large turnips, fall grain, bird pecked sunflower heads and grapes coming to ripe.

Slow Food's Great Tomato Brunch

Terralicious was proud to host Slow Food's Great Tomato Brunch at the Haliburton Fam this past Saturday and what a yummy treat it was. Tomatoes of all shapes, colours, and sizes stood firm for squeezing and tasting by enthusiastic samplers after which we all sat down to a long table of good food and talk of food. We enjoyed salads and tarts and homemade bread, soups and crumbles and even a tomato (call that Andy Warhol) cake.

These beautiful photos, which refuse to line up for me, were taken by Slow Food member and valiant Hali volunteer Rhona McAdams. Thank you Rhona for making this event a bountiful success.

Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

So many have been asking for the Pumpkin Cookie Recipe we use in our Healthy Summer Fun Camps for Kids that I've decided to post it here.  I'll upload a photo when we make the cookies in one of our upcoming Wednesday's at Terralicious after school kids program - see Saanich Recreation for details. 

I've been making these cookies since our children were very young.  They still love them.  

1 c. shortening (if you use butter the cookies will be excellent but much flatter)

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 c. pumpkin (garden grown, stewed pumpkin is best but I've used canned)

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Beat shortening with sugar.  Add egg and pumpkin. Combine and add dry ingredients then stir in vanilla, chocolate and pecans.  Drop by tablespoon on parchment lined sheets.   Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.  Cool.  Yields 5 1/2 dozen moist and yummy cookies.  

Kids Club with Chef Cosmo Meens & Florist Marty Snow

We had so much fun with Marty Snow instructing us how to create beautiful floral bouquets to adorn our luncheon table.  Chef Cosmo entertained while creating a fantastic raw veggie roll.   Our formal lunch included homemade bread, an edible flower adorned small leaf salad, and a Siglanda potato frittata made with eggs we collected from our chickens.  Dessert shown here was a fresh rhubarb fool with yummy gingered whipped cream and Pauline's famous Ginger cookies.  I'll be posting a list of dishes we prepared this week.  Camp participants are encouraged to contact us by email for recipes @ info@terralicious.ca.  

Good Food and Fun at the Farm

One of the lunch time meals at our Healthy Summer Fun Camps for Kids included Zucchini Pancakes done without oil on a griddle.  Zucchini is fun and easy to grow and the kids loved the pancakes so we've decided to share the recipe.   This recipe makes about 7 small pancakes.   Combine 2 cups of shredded zucchini with 1/4 cup finely diced sweet onion, 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (we used Natural Pastures Parmadamer Cheese) and 2 eggs (ours were double yokers collected from our Terralicious chickens).  Form each cake on the griddle using two large tablespoons of mixture.  Flatten, and cook on medium-high heat, flipping when a nice crust has formed on the bottom (too soon and the cake will fall apart).  Top the finished pancake with a dollop of delicious organic yogurt (we love Olympia-plain) with diced cucumber, radish and/or tomato.   Season with finely chopped herbs (kids like basil) and sea salt.   This recipe is an adapted version of Kate Lavin's Savory Summer Squash Cakes as published by Carolyn Herriot of The Garden Path.  Thank you Kate and Carolyn.

Certified Organic Chicken Eggs

Our seven Isa Brown hens are all grown up and started laying about 10 days ago.  The hoopla surrounding their first eggs started with a cacophony of clucking and squawking from the little cedar house.  Then came the proud grins and congradulatory hugs all around.  Way to go girls! Celebrations ended with a ceremonial cracking and the production of this lovely fingerling and fresh herb frittata accompanied by farm fresh bread.  

Chef Cosmo Meens - Chefs in the Garden Grand Finale

We closed our Chefs in the Garden Summer Series today with Chef Cosmo Meens cooking up a "ridiculously" (young speak for fantastically) delectable array of visual and taste sensation beauty.   My swiftly flicked photos don't do it  justice...here was the 7 course menu:

1. Kombucha Raspberry Lavendar Spritzer

2. Purslane Salad with Venture-Schulze Balsamic and Strawberries

3. Heirloom Tomato draped with Sauteed Crookneck & Pattipan Summer Squash dressed in Basil and Crispy Lavendar Brown Butter Sage (I snapped too soon and missed the sage topping which was beautiful and delicious)

4. Almond, Pumpkin Curried Carrot Pate with Collard Green Wrap and Nasturtium 

5. Butter lettuce, Spiralina Hemp, Grape Tomato & Queen Charlotte Seaweed Salad

or Russian Blue & Fingerling Potato Salad with Cilantro and Moonstruck Beddis Blue Cheese (shown here adorned with Calendula flowers of exquisite color)

6. Garlic Smoked Spot Prawns on New Zealand Spinach with Curried Coconut Cream

7. Triple Berry Cup with Raspberry Cashew Cream and Johnny Jump Ups

I can't remember a meal more delicious, imaginative and sensitive.  It was a delight beyond words and a perfect note upon which to end our July 2009 Summer Series.  

We will be featuring one Chef in the Garden each month beginning October 2009.  Check our calendar for details.  Next week we start our Healthy Summer Fun Camps for Kids where we'll serve up a trilogy of gardening, cooking, and ecology complete with healthy lunches and lots of fun.

 

Our Terralicious demonstration kitchen is well equipped to provide students a clear view of the stove top (over-stove camera linked to the flat screen) and the demonstration counter (overhead mirror).   The open concept ensures you get to see what's going on it the background of the kitchen as well.    We use the TV screen to air Powerpoints we've assembled on the various stages of food plant seeding, growing, harvesting, and seed collection.

Here is our version of no knead bread.  Sometime after dinner, mix together 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp quick rise yeast, and 1 5/8 cups water in a stainless steel bowl. You can add dried fruit and/or a mixture of seeds, nuts, and herbs to the mixture.  Cover tightly.  In the morning, dump the gooey mixture onto a tea towel that has been dusted with flour, cornmeal or other non-stick medium.  Let raise two hours.  Put a cast iron pot (like the red one pictured here) into the oven and heat the oven to 475 degrees.  When ready remove lid and plop bread into the hot pot.  Don't worry if it's sloppy.  The bread actually looks more artisanly beautiful when it has lumps and ridges.  Put into oven and bake with lid on for 30 minutes.  Remove lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes to brown.  So easy and so good.