Snacky Dinner and Gardening Weekends

(click for more gardening pictures)

Finishing up with our garden just in time for Victoria Day, the official birthday of the Queen installed in honor of Queen Victoria! The weather was so warm and sunny the past two weeks that I could not hold off until unofficial beginning of summer in Canada, especially after reading the New York Times article on city farmers.

Our fourth year gardening and it seems to get easier!

I started with our vegetable garden first, digging up and cultivating the soil then planting the seeds for our snap peas, green and yellow beans, plenty of mesclun, green leaf lettuce, spinach, curly parsley and dill in the North beds, Yukon gold taters in the South trenches.

(click for more gardening pictures)

We also decided to experiment with potted root vegetables, i.e. radishes, carrots and beets, this year. Some pickling cucumbers also joined the pots with our fresh herbs, and as I commented on David Lebovitz’s post on Arthur Schwartz's Dills, I am looking forward to get enough to brine and can myself.

With all that activity, I got my favourite quick fix: a snacky dinner with rosemary porchetta, bresaola, rosemary Manchego, Crotonese, St- Jorge! Cold cuts and cheese from Italy, Spain, and Portugal! In the meantime, I hope I got you inspired to start your own garden this year, maybe with in of Edmonton’s Community Gardens !?

Italian Herb Oven Roast Beef with Chanterelle Mushroom Leek Sauce

Another Sunday dinner favourite! I love this roast because it only takes a few minutes to prepare, never fails and gives enough leftover the following Monday and Tuesday. The Italian herbs not only flavour the meat, but also lock the juices in, keeping the roast moist and tender. Roast beef usually comes with gravy, but here I decided to stick with fall and made a very simple chanterelle mushroom sauce.

Just give it try!

Ingredients:

3 pound (1½ kilogram) outside round roast beef

¼ to ½ cup Dijon mustard

1 cup dried Italian herbs

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup chanterelle mushrooms

2 small leeks

¼ cup dry Vermouth (or dry white wine)

½ cup chicken broth

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Brush the roast with the mustard.

2. Mix the Italian herbs with the slat and pepper. Completely cover the roast with the herb mixture.

3. Preheat the oven to 450 F.

4. Fill the bottom of the roast pan with water.

5. Place the roast on the rack. (Tip: Use the broiling pan if your roast pan does not have a rack)

6. Cook the roast for 10 min.

7. Reduce the heat to 275 F and cook the roast for another 75 mins, until the internal temperature reaches 155 F. (Do not open the oven door at this point!)

8. Remove from the oven and tent with foil for 5-10 mins.

9. In the last 20 mins of roasting, brush and slice the mushrooms.

10. Chop the leeks.

11. Heat some olive oil to medium-high heat in a non-stick pan.

12. Stir in the leeks then the mushrooms. 13. Once the vegetables are soft, add the vermouth and the chicken broth.

14. Let simmer for 10-15 mins, until the roast is ready to serve.

15. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes and peas.

Smokey Red Peppercorn Crusted Mahi Mahi on Sautéed Peas and New Potatoes

This is my new favourite barbeque fish recipe! The sweetness of the peas and potatoes counter-balances the smokey flavour of the anis wood infused fish steaks.

Ingredients:

1 pound mahi mahi (2 steaks)

2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon Kosher salt

¼ to ½ cup red peppercorn

4 pieces anis wood

Olive oil

4 bacon slices (or 100 grams pancetta)

½ yellow onion

2 small leeks

3 cups peas

4 new potatoes

½ teaspoon thyme

½ to 1 cup beer

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Start the barbeque.
2. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
3. Chop the onion, leeks and potatoes.
4. Brown the bacon in the hot pan until slightly crisp, drain and set aside
5. Add the chopped onion into the same pan.
6. Once the onion is soft and lightly caramelised, add the leek and potatoes.
7. Sauté until the potatoes are browned on all sides.
8. Stir in the peas and thyme.
9. Reduce the heat to low.
10. Cover for 15 mins to allow the vegetables to soften.
11. While steaming the vegetables, soak the anis wood in water.
12. Crush the red peppercorn in a mortar and transfer to a plate.
13. Coat the fish steak with the peppercorn and Kosher salt.
14. Drizzle with olive oil.
15. Place the anis wood on the hot coals.
16. Barbeque the fish for 3 mins per side.
17. Before serving, add the beer and bacon to the vegetables and season to taste.