Heirloom Tomato Galette and a Family Reunion

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This past weekend we hosted our Triennial (that’s once every three years) family reunion at our cottage, Our first one was 18 years ago, in 2000. This summer we topped out at 43 guests. A tent and more than a few blow up mattresses were involved. Luckily the weather cooperated.

For lunch on Friday, I made a bunch of these galettes. Taking advantage of glorious summer heirloom tomatoes and corn, I added some dijon mustard and Gruyere cheese to amp up the flavour.

In my mind, a galette is the boho-chic French cousin of the tart. Free form and just a little rough around the edges, she is way more fun than a tart.

No need to use a tart pan, just roll out the dough into the approximation of a circle or oval. Once the toppings are in place, gently pleat the sides to form a border.

The dough I use for this galette is a bit unusual in that it contains sour cream as well as butter. The sour cream contributes to a super-flaky crust, almost reminiscent of puff pastry, but without all the work. It rolls out like a dream, no cracking.

The video below demonstrates how to make the dough and assemble the galette. I like to make a few recipes of the dough at a time and then just freeze the rolled out pastry. That way, I can bake a galette whenever the mood strikes or hordes of guests descend upon me.

We hired an amazing caterer so that no one had to spend the entire time in the kitchen. Aside from the galettes, my daughter and I baked over 375 “Bubbe Cookies  (poppy seed cookies created by my grandmother, who we called Bubbe) and crafted a Bubbe cookie wreath to welcome everyone.


We introduced our newest cousin to Bubbe Cookies. She’s a fan!
In past years, we crammed the days full of games and activities. 2012 featured “The Amazing Race- Wedding Edition, in honour of my brother’s upcoming nuptials. Under the guise of helping the betrothed couple prepare for the wedding we were  divided into teams and went off on a car rally-treasure hunt to the lovely town of Perth, Ontario.
2015 featured a donut eating contest, where the donuts were dangling from a string, as well as another “Amazing Race” car rally, this time to the booming town of Smiths Falls, Ontario. This year, it was a bit more low key, with more time chilling, and just a bit of drinking. Now that all the little cousins, nieces and nephews have reached the age of majority, everyone indulged in margaritas on Friday night and Cherry Lemon Gin and Tonic on Saturday night.



Being surrounded with loved ones, watching the sun set and eating great food…We are blessed.

Click here to print recipe for Heirloom Tomato, Corn and Gruyere Galette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cherry-Lemon Gin and Tonic

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One of my favourite things to create is cocktails. It’s a bit of a joke in our family, since I don’t really like drinking them. My drink of choice is wine, preferably a very chilled Australian Sauvignon Blanc. I’m going through an Australian phase now. Perhaps it has something to do with my binge watching Masterchef Australia. Australians are so much nicer than Canadians and Americans. They always hug each other after each challenge. Sorry, I digress. Back to cocktails.

Mixing up different flavour combinations and then taking pictures of them is my idea of fun. I especially like to create cocktails with my brother-in-law Brandon. He is always game to try something new. This genius cocktail idea came from my friend Erin, at Dish Catering. She was telling me about a new cherry flavoured gin, made by Dillon’s. She mixed it with Fever Tree Lemon Tonic water and said it was outstanding. If you can’t find Cherry Gin or Lemon Tonic, I think you could use regular gin and tonic and add a bit of lemonade, cherry juice and some fresh cherries. Not quite the same, but, in a pinch, it would still be quite good.

Fresh cherries get muddled in the bottom of the glass. A shot of cherry gin, some lemon tonic water and lots of ice. Really refreshing. If you’re a G&T fan, this could become your new favourite drink. We’ll be serving it at our big family reunion next weekend. Nothing brings families closer together than lots of gin, or in the case of our family, Prosecco!

I have spent the past week immersed in studying light. The uber-talented food photographer Bea Lubas, threw down an Instagram challenge this month to shoot only using backlight. Bea’s philosophy is that “If you want to improve your photography, don’t take pictures of food. Become a student of light and take pictures of it instead.”

Backlight is when the light hits the subject from behind. Most food photography is side lit (light comes from the side of the subject), as it is universally flattering. Backlighting is difficult to do well. If you’re keen to learn more about it, Bea wrote an excellent blog post on the subject. It really helped me to nail the technique.

Here is a photo I shot, using my iPhone, showing the setup I used to get my photo.
I undertook 4 backlighting photo sessions this week, practicing, trying different windows at different times of day. I shot carrot cake (recipe coming soon), but didn’t love the results.
I shot blueberries, with somewhat better results.
My final shoot was this G&T. The sweet spot, for me, was a North facing window at around 2:00 pm. It was a grey rainy day and the soft light coming in through the window created that magical glow. I used a white foam core board at the front of the image, to throw some light back onto the front of my scene, as that area was quite dark. Check out the #belightinspired gallery on Instagram to see the amazing images others have created.

Click here to print recipe for Cherry and Lemon Gin and Tonic.

 

 

 

Peach Tomato Corn Salad

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When Mother Nature forces corn, peaches and tomatoes to ripen all at the same time, I do believe she intended for us to put them together into something delicious.

First, let’s chat about peaches. There are two types of peaches, cling and freestone. As the name suggests, the flesh of the cling peach stubbornly hugs the stone, making them a real pain to slice. The flesh of the freestone, comes away easily from the pit. Unfortunately, without slicing the peach open, there is no way of knowing which type of peach is which. The first peaches of the season are almost always cling, and the freestones usually follow a few weeks later.
The easiest way to pit a freestone peach is to use a sharp paring knife. Pierce the peach at its stem end and slice it along the seam all the way around the fruit. Place each half of the peach in either hand. Twist the halves in opposite directions. Pull the halves apart to reveal the pit. Use the tip of a spoon to nudge the pit out of the peach.
For this salad I encourage you to buy as many different types, colours and sizes of ripe tomatoes as you can find. Heirloom ones are perfect for this salad. This is truly a blank canvas and you are the artist.

I recently discovered Tomberries. They are minuscule red and yellow tomatoes, about the quarter of the size of a cherry tomato. They are super-sweet and freaking adorable. In the photo below, I put a in grape tomato (bottom left)  for size reference. Loblaws in Canada carries them under their President’s Choice label. If the corn is really fresh, like picked that day, just shuck it, cut the corn off the cob and use it raw in the salad. I like to sauté the corn in a bit of olive oil if it was not picked that day.

Cut some of the tomatoes in slices, others in wedges and start composing. I just drizzled mine with some really fruity extra virgin olive oil. I scattered some fresh basil over top and finished it with a judicious sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper and flaky sea salt. I didn’t feel it needed any vinegar as the tomatoes have a good amount of acid. If you feel it needs vinegar, then go ahead and add some delicate white wine vinegar.

Send me a picture if you make this salad. I’d love to see what you create.

Blueberry Ginger Lime Mini Pies

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I have waxed poetic about my love of wild blueberries before on this blog. (See here, here and here). Sweeter, smaller and less acidic than their big sister, the cultivated blueberry, they are, without question, my favourite summer fruit. Mostly I just enjoy them raw, in cereal or with yogurt and granola, but I also love to bake with them.

My daughter is pushing me to try flavour combinations I have never considered before. Blueberry and ginger?  According to Bon Appetit  it’s a dynamite combo. The ginger adds a subtle bit of heat in the back of your throat that is totally unexpected but very delicious. Tart lime adds the perfect hit of acid.

I decided to make mini pies, because I was dying to use my new tartlet pans from Nom Living in London. Their ceramics are beautifully hand crafted and just a joy to look at. I had some fun covering the pies with little flower cut outs.
Plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, these mini blueberry ginger pies are just adorable. But, full disclosure here, I found the crust to filling ratio was wrong. Way too much crust in these mini pies. A fruit pie needs to be singing with fruit and these tiny pies were just humming.

A 9 inch glass pie plate is the perfect vehicle to cram in all this blueberry happiness.

Click here to print recipe for Blueberry Ginger Lime Pie.

 

Turkey Koobideh (Persian Kebabs) Pita Sandwiches

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One of the things I love best about blogging is the glimpse it gives me into how other people live their lives. I am not so naive as to believe that what they post is how they live everyday. I know it   is their aspirational life, and I’m ok with that. I’m just curious. I love to see the little details that they deem important and beautiful. I am a highly aesthetic person. The curve of the handle on a knife or the organic edge of a plate bring me great pleasure. To connect with other people who obsess over such details is a joy.

So when I stumbled upon the gorgeous blog post titled “My Shabbat Table” over at Sina Mizrahi’s beautiful blog, I was enthralled. She articulates the peace that is Shabbat with such clarity. And because she is such a genuine soul, she assures us that her Shabbat table does not look like this every week. Already I feel better about myself!

This recipe for Turkey Koobideh Pita Sandwiches is inspired by a recent post of Sina’s. Koobideh is a Persian kebab, made with ground chicken. Similar to Lebanese kofta. I made mine with ground turkey, because that’s what I happened to have on hand. These kebabs are little flavour bombs. Black pepper, turmeric, Aleppo pepper, sumac and salt combine to make an intensely flavoured koobideh.
The first time I made them, I found them to be a bit dry. Ground turkey and chicken can be quite lean. On round two I added a tablespoon of refined (unscented) coconut oil to the mixture. I decided to turn these into pita sandwiches and made a vegan tzatziki sauce to drizzle over everything. This sauce is so delicious. The recipe hails from melissas_healthykitchen on Instagram.
These sandwiches require lots of napkins. They are a drippy delicious mess!

Click here for Turkey Koobideh Pita Sandwiches.

Mango Coconut Lime Ice Pops

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It is undoubtedly the summer of ice pops. This week we’re going tropical with mango and coconut, with some lime thrown in, because we’re fancy like that.

The first time I made them, I layered the coconut and mango to make them striped. While they made for a gorgeous picture, I found that the mango-lime layer was too tart and the coconut layer was too sweet. So, I am recommending that you throw aesthetics aside (not something I am prone to doing lightly), for the greater good of taste, and forgo the lovely layers. When you blend everything together the harmony of flavours is exceptional.

You could of course buy fresh mangoes, sit them on your countertop and wait several days for them to ripen. But it’s bloody hot and we want our ice pops NOW, so buy a bag of frozen chopped mango.

Chances are, If you have any millennials in the house, there’s already a bag of frozen mango in your freezer along with the ubiquitous container of protein powder in the cupboard, and kale and spinach in the fridge. My daughter is visiting for the summer , so we are well stocked on all the smoothie ingredients.

Into the blender go frozen mangoes, lime zest and juice, coconut milk, a bit of sweetened condensed milk and a touch of heavy cream.
You could leave them unadorned or accessorize them with a quick dip in melted white chocolate and toasted coconut. Your choice. No judgement here.

Click here to print recipe for Mango Coconut Lime Ice Pops.

Cherry Yogurt Breakfast Ice Pops

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I make popsicles a few times every summer and end up buying new molds almost every year because I can’t find them or have lost half the parts for the set. This year I splurged on this set , and I am promising myself it will be the last set I will ever buy. They are stainless steel and everything fits neatly into a little tray to hold and store all the parts.

Fresh cherries are at their peak now and we decided to celebrate with them.My daughter thought that plain Greek yogurt would be the perfect base for these popsicles. She is way more health conscious than I am and she convinced me to sweeten them with just 2 tablespoons of honey. We decided to use both pureed and chopped cherries for a textural treat.

Fresh or frozen pitted cherries are cooked with a bit of water for about 5 minutes, until softened. They get blitzed in the blender. we mixed some chopped fresh cherries with the yogurt and honey and filled the molds 2/3 full. Then we poured in the pureed cherry mixture and swirled it with a wooden skewer for a pretty marbled design.
Since they are not very sweet, I thought they would make a perfect portable breakfast. I couldn’t resist dipping the top into more honey and rolling them in some chopped granola, for a complete breakfast!

Click here for recipe for Cherry Yogurt Breakfast Ice Pops.

Tropical Coconut Cookies

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I know that posting a new cookie recipe in July, in the middle of a heatwave, seems like a bad idea, but go with me on this one, please. I promise you, these cookies are worth turning the oven on for.

Coconut is one of those polarizing ingredients, much like cilantro. People either seem to love it or hate it. I am #teamcoconut all the way. These cookies were inspired by Martha’s Coconut Chip cookies. 

I tried Martha’s recipe but found that the cookies spread way too much. They were too chewy from all that coconut and the bottom got way too dark before the top of the cookie finished baking. They were good, but not quite blog worthy. I was going away for the weekend, so I tossed them into the freezer and decided I would play around with proportions and remake them the following week. My daughter and 7 of her friends discovered them in the freezer and polished them off, saying they were the best cookies ever. One of them described them as “juicy”. I am assuming that was the extra-chewy quality of these cookies.

I tinkered with the recipe and added more flour so that they did not spread as much. I reduced the amount of coconut and added in some chopped macadamia nuts and white chocolate chunks. I believe that coconut, macadamia and white chocolate are the baking holy trinity.
For the coconut, use unsweetened coconut chips.  An ice cream scoop makes quick work of portioning the cookies. You want them all exactly the same size so that they bake evenly.
White chocolate, on its own, can be cloyingly sweet. But pair it with buttery, crunchy macadamia nuts and that’s when the magic happens. Add coconut to the mix and you have a home run. Chewy, nutty, crunchy, these cookies have it all. I would imagine that a scoop of vanilla ice cream sandwiched between 2 of these may be just what you need to beat the heat.

Or just have one with a cold glass of milk.

Click here to print recipe for Tropical Coconut Cookies.

Skirt Steak with Pomegranate Tomato Relish

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Skirt steak, prized for its deeply rich flavour, is one of my favourite cuts of meat to grill in the summer. I have been making a version of this recipe for years now, and it ocurred to me that I have never shared it with you. My bad. So sorry.

You all know that I love salt, but if you buy kosher meat, be aware that kosher skirt steak is super salty. Proper koshering technique requires that the salt be put on all sides of the meat. Skirt steak is a very thin cut, so it absorbs more salt than a thicker cut. My butcher friend Joel suggested that I soak the skirt steak in cold water, for about an hour in the fridge before marinating. Change the water every 20 minutes. This works really well in reducing the saltiness. Of course, if you don’t keep kosher, skip this step.

Start with a really flavourful marinade. I whisked together an assertive blend of olive oil, red wine, red wine vinegar, pomegranate molasses, honey, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Overnight is ideal, but if you are short of time, a few hours in the fridge is fine.

While the meat is marinating, prepare the salsa. Pomegranate and tomatoes are mixed with lime zest, lots if parsley and some olive oil for a sweet-tart salsa that cuts through the richness of the beef. Let the meat rest for about 5 minutes before slicing. Make sure you slice against the grain. I filmed a video to show you the right way.

Click here to print recipe for Skirt Steak with Pomegranate Tomato Salsa.

Malted Milk Ice Cream

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 Perhaps it’s the latent scientist in me, but I find the process of making ice cream fascinating. Taking something from a liquid to a solid state is just so cool. (pun intended).I adore the flavour of malted milk powder. It adds caramel, toasty, roasted notes to all sorts of desserts. But what exactly is malted milk powder? I wasn’t really sure where it came from, so I did a bit of research. Turns out that malted milk powder is a derivative of barley.

The process involves taking sprouted barley, drying and grinding it up into a powder. During this process, the starches in the grain are converted to sugar, producing a sweet dried grain powder. Dried malt becomes the base for beer, whiskey and malt vinegar.

When dried malt is mixed with wheat flour and milk powder, it becomes malted milk powder. This stuff is a flavour bomb. I love adding it to cookies and brownies. The addition of milk powder to the blend adds a creamy rich dairy note, which is why I love it added to ice cream. You need to read the label of the brand you are using. Some brands, like Ovaltine, add sugar and cocoa powder. Other brands, like Hoosier Hill Farm, keep it pure.

I made this ice cream with Ovaltine, as I liked the hint of chocolate it added to the ice cream from the cocoa powder in the mix. If you prefer a more intense malted flavour, use a brand without any added cocoa.

This recipe comes from the King Arthur website. They added a swirl of chocolate fudge sauce to theirs. I left that out, but added some chopped Mars Bars during the last few minutes of freezing my ice cream. I like the little surprise of chocolate malted nougat bits studded throughout the ice cream.

Click here to print recipe for Malted Milk Ice Cream.