We traveled to St. Jacobs today, just north of Waterloo. Having been there before we had a good idea of what we wanted and where to get it. Here are a few snaps from the day…
It was a bumper crop for peppers this year, according to the farmers.
ahhhh cheese.
This is what a quarter bushel of Roma tomatoes looks like, I’ll be sharpening the knife tomorrow and doing a lot of dicing. Tomato sauce here I come…
And finally the money shot:
We had a good day and the vegetables taste amazing.
This is a riff on a Jamie Oliver dish which is pan fried partridge and pearl barley, pea and lettuce. I substituted chicken thighs for the partridge and omitted the lettuce (although I’m sure it’s great) I also added some Parmigiano-Reggiano to the stew at the end along with some Italian parsley. I made my own chicken stock earlier in the day which is the heart and soul of the dish.
Our neighbour of 8 years is moving away and a group of us are throwing her a party, along with making about 150 Swedish meatballs, I also made one of my favourite appetizers to make which is roasted vegetable spinach rolls. The rolls consist of roasted red pepper, Poblano pepper, Japanese eggplant, goat cheese and balsamic glaze. The trick is using a little gelatin to help the spinach hold together.
I rehabbed my BBQ, replacing the burners and adding heavy (40lbs) stainless steel grates which hold their heat much better than the old Weber grates. As you can see the grill lines are strong and clean and adds to a creating a great crust. The strips were served with simple boiled potatoes and sautéed summer squash in birch tree syrup and sherry.
Slow cooked with a little smoke these rather substantial ribs came very nice, but I think I prefer the baby backs. The mop was Dijon mustard and honey, the BBQ sauce is home made based on my Mom’s rib recipe.
I had an Italian friend from Chicago who swore up and down that scrambled eggs and green peppers was the greatest thing ever invented, and he wasn’t far off the mark. This is scrambled eggs with sautéed green peppers topped with a provolone cheese served on toasted challah and a healthy smattering of McIlhenny Co. Chipotle Tobasco sauce (my contribution)
We visited McEwan’s Grocery in May, the store is gorgeous the produce is amazing and everything is immaculate and is priced accordingly, not for the cost conscious.
First the money shot:
And the two winners that were selected…
Worth every penny!
A roasted capon stuffed with wild rice and served with roasted potatoes and sautéed green beans, I cheated with the capon and picked up already stuffed from Bruno’s.
Thin crust pizza with green peppers, cremini mushrooms, pepperoni and half of the pizza also has pickled banana peppers. The crust came from Whole Foods.
A very simple toad in the hole with bread from Epi Breads, the bread is made with 5 year old cheddar cheese, I finished the eggs under the broiler and topped with a little medium cheddar. Great on a sunny morning.