Sunday Food

From the country...



...Buckwheat pancakes for breakfast with stewed sour cherries and maple syrup. Leek, ham, and oyster mushroom quiche with a whole wheat crust, topped with aged cheddar for lunch....

Farm life = good eatin'

Quiche recipe

For the pastry recipe, mosey on over to here.

For the filling:

saute garlic, leek, ham and mushrooms in a skillet until just tender.

cool mixture.

pre bake pastry for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven, cool.

add half of the cooled leek mixture to the bottom of the pastry.

add egg mixture -3 eggs 2/3 cups milk or cream whisked together ( I doubled this for my quiche)

add remaining leek mixture to top

sprinkle heavily with shredded cheddar cheese

pop into a 350 degree oven until center of quiche is set (about 45ish minutes)

cool slightly before tearing into it.

enjoy!

Feels a little like Sunday...

From the City...

For me, there is nothing better than the weekend and even more, there is nothing better than Sundays. Last weekend L was in Toronto staying with Simon, Ruby and I. In true Toronto fashion, we went out for dinner at our favorite spot in China town, took in a $5 Sunday morning yoga class and after had an unbelievably delicious brunch.

So here's the breakdown of what we had:

L brought these unbelievably cute, blue poulet eggs and a hunk of really good ham. I made a loaf of whole wheat bread, a la sullivan street bakery recipe (recipe to follow) , a hunk of really good ontario cheese from the local cheese store and these adorable sprouts that L grows herself and sells at the Green Barns Saturday morning market at St.Clair and Christie.

Here's the very famous Sullivan Street Bakery Bread Recipe that is so good, so easy but requires just a little time and planning.

Formula:

3 cups (400g) flour

1½ cups (300g or 12 oz) water

¼ teaspoon (1g) yeast

1¼ teaspoons (8g) salt

olive oil (for coating)

extra flour

Equipment:

Two medium mixing bowls

6-8 qt. pot (Pyrex glass, Le Creuset cast iron, or ceramic)

Wooden spoon or spatula (optional)

Plastic wrap

Cotton dish towels (not terrycloth), 2 or 3

Process:

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water and incorporate by hand or with a wooden spoon or spatuala for 30 sec. to 1 min. Lightly coat the inside of second medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 12 hrs. at room temperature (approx. 65-72'F).

Remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice. Let the dough rest 15 min. in the bowl or on the work surface. Next, shape the dough into ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, wheat bran, or commeal; place the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with flour. Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let rise 1-2 hrs. at room temperature, until more than doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450-500'F. Place the pot in the oven at leat ½ hr. Prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and place the dough in the pot steam side up. Cover with the lid and bake 30 min. Then, remove the lid and back 15-30min. uncovered.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Perfect Poached Pullet Eggs

From the country...

Now is the time of year for me when I can spend a little more time in the kitchen. In the past 24 hrs I have made preserved cherry vanilla ice cream, chocolate cookies, maple granola, a hearty soup and a fresh loaf of bread amongst my daily meals. Life slows down during these months as the winter brings warm sunny days, blows heinous storms or beautiful clear nights with bitter temperatures. We try to take more time with the meals. We poach our eggs.
The snow outside is falling snow globe style, the temperature is above freezing and the hens are enjoying the warmer weather. The ladies are laying eggs and the pullets (think teenage chickens) have begun to lay beautiful eggs as well. A pullet egg is a stunning thing, about half the size as a regular chicken egg with a tough-as-nails outer shell, firm whites and bright yellow yolks. A pullet egg is perfect for poaching. The boys (thing 1 and thing 2) love their poachies, eating their 2 egg quota everyday and Beans (my partner) loves his with the stinkiest runny cheese you can find.
I like my poached eggs firm but melty, with some yolk running all over the plate. A trick that I do is to add the eggs to the boiling water (carefully to not brake the yolks), turn down the burner slightly, and pop down the toast. Fresh eggs are ideal for this process because they hold their shape nicely when boiled. By the time the toast is popped and buttered the eggs should be perfect. The eggs should be eaten immediately because they will continue to cook on their own (an impossible feat with two young boys circling around the table…) I like to add whatever is in the fridge that I can sauté (chard, onions, mushrooms, bacon…), place that on fresh toasted bread, add the eggs, top with some shaved cheese (whatever I have), add fresh sprouts and finish with a sprinkling of sea salt and cracked pepper. A breakfast masterpiece! One of the decadent perks of farm living, perfect poached pullet eggs.