Italian Dreams

I had one recurring fantasy when I was growing up. It wasn't to be a princess, or to get married, or own a pony. It was that my dad's job in HR at Sealtest was a sham, and that he was really a mafia kingpin. I know, it's a little weird. We got a fair bit of discounted ice cream when he was working at Sealtest, so in retrospect I'm not sure a job change would of worked out in my favour.

It isn't clear when or why I devised this dream life of living with the head of a mob family. There certainly weren't many indications that that was a reality. My parents were divorced which is usually not allowed, we weren't rich, and my dad own a little townhouse in Scarborough. He could of least moved to Little Italy to be closer to his secret life. My dad is half Italian which is the only thing connecting him to a life of crime.

I think I just wanted to be more Italian. Or more anything. I always found it a little boring to be a Caucasian with an English background. I wanted exotic blood running through my veins. The fact remains you can't pick your heritage. So I am what I am. But there is hope. Maybe Jess has a secret life?

Tomato Crostini with Sardines

can of sardines, well drained
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 small avocado, peeled and diced
8 fresh basil leaves, torn
juice of half a lemon
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1 tbsp of toasted pine nuts or walnuts
1/2 baguette, sliced and lightly toasted

In a bowl combine tomatoes, avocado, basil and lemon juice. Toss gently. Rub baguette slices with garlic. Spoon a little of the tomato mixture onto the baguette slices and top with bits of sardine. Sprinkle with nuts and serve.

I'm Off

I won't be posting for awhile. I'm taking my girls to England for a month to meet my family. My mom is already there, and we will be staying with my aunt. I'll be taking lots of pictures and posting when I can but I'm not making any promises. I'm not sure what my aunt's internet scene is over there but I'm sure I can find a hip (or nerdy) internet cafe to communicate with you all. I hear they have the internet on computers now in the UK.

It is said, mainly by my mom, that my aunt Sara makes the best pie crust in town. I've never been a huge pie lover until Jess started baking pies. I think he is the best pie maker this side of the Atlantic. My mom is always trying to set up a pie competition between him and my aunt, but neither of them seem particularly interested. Maybe my mom has a secret fantasy to be the best pie tasting judge of all time. Perhaps at her age she feels that dream will only be realized by forcing family members to compete in the kitchen. She'll only be satisfied until one person is left humiliated and crying on the kitchen floor amongst piles of second place pie dough. Or maybe my mom is just trying to make conversation by engaging people with a common interest. It's a toss up, I could believe either one.

That being said I will try and ply Aunt Sara's pie crust recipe from her. No forms of manipulation are below me, but I'm pretty sure she'll just tell me if I ask nicely. So look forward to pie and scones in blog future, and wish me all the best parenting luck when I fly solo with my three little girls. Gravol may be my new best friend.

Roasted Tomato and Corn Soup
from Bonnie Stern's Heart Smart

12 to 15 plum tomatoes, halved and seeded
2 onions, cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 ears of corn, husked
1 tbsp of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp chipotle puree
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil

Grill tomatoes and onions on BBQ until each side is soft and brown. Grill corn until browned turning to cook all sides. Remove and cut kernels off of corn and set aside. Heat oil on medium heat, add garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add chipotle and tomatoes, stir and cook until hot. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for about 15 minutes. Puree soup, and return to heat. Add onions and corn and cook for 5 minutes. Add vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with basil and serve.

Farmers

There is a farmer's market up the street from me every Monday. I just love it. It may not be the cheapest place to shop but it is the freshest and pretty darn tasty too. If bacon says no, I may ask the farmer's market to marry me. No it's official, I will ask him to marry me. I'll make him a ring out of bacon which will not only make bacon feel like a fool for rejecting me, but also make my offer irresistible.

There is a very cool program called FarmStart that helps farmers start small scale farms. A few of them at our market participate in this program. They are urban farmers. They live in Toronto and commute less than a hour to Brampton to farm their land. Through FarmStart they are able to rent land for very little, which enables them to actually make a living by farming. One of the biggest pitfalls for farmers is the debt they incur due to the land they need to buy. This way they can learn their trade and do what most of them love to do.

It certainly got us thinking. I've already contacted them to see if we can rent land simply to grow food for our family. We were denied, but I have a feeling that FarmStart or a similar program lies somewhere in our future. We will have to wait and see.

This is a recipe that one of the Brampton farmers gave me when I bought fenugreek from him. If you can find fresh fenugreek, make this dish. It is divine.

Methi Aloo

2 large bunches of Fenugreek
3 potatoes, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 medium white onion, diced
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed red peppers
2 tsp oil
1/4 to 1/2 cups of water

Remove fenugreek leaves from stem and discard the stems. Heat oil in pan, add onions and cook until soft. Add potatoes and water and cover pan for 5-7 minutes or until potatoes are cooked. Add tomatoes, fenugreek, salt and red peppers and cook until all water has evaporated. Serve hot with pita or naan bread.

in minutes.

My garden is overgrown with mint and chives.

I use the term "my garden" fairly loosely, since it will soon belong to someone else - which is why it is so overgrown.

I have no complaints about the mint and chives, though - they are two of my favourites, and I am happy to have them in abundance, at least for the time being (my new garden is lovely and lush, but also very well-ordered; so, for this growing season, anyway, there will be no invasive herbs running amok).

Between the mint and the heat, our meals have been largely inspired by the Mediterranean - a lot of grilling, quite a lot of olive oil and garlic, some rosemary, some lamb.

I am now at the point of almost constantly fantasizing about my new kitchen and all of the things that will happen in it: long, lingering conversations, slow cooked dinners, multi-course breakfasts (really!).

But until we get there, the order of the day is meals in minutes.

I am aiming generally for luscious, robust things that will fill me and cheer me, and can be made in the amount of time it would otherwise take to scoop some ice cream into a bowl.

I found this dish fit the bill admirably.


Lunch in minutes

I used a grilled eggplant leftover from a previous meal, which is why this took so little time for me to cobble together; but if you don't happen to have any leftovers on hand, the grilling only adds a few minutes to your prep time.

1 medium eggplant, sliced crosswise and grilled
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
1/4c extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp wine vinegar
100g feta, crumbled

Cut grilled eggplant slices into cubes.
Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl , toss gently, and serve.

Serves 4, as a side dish

beauty.

I can not tell you how thrilled I was to unpack a box of groceries the other day and find the small paper bag containing these tomatoes.

I nearly couldn't eat them - I was so taken by their beauty that I just wanted to sit and stare.

I gazed at them on every lovely surface I could come up with (the white stove top, the pale blue platter, the yellow tablecloth, the green couch).

I sniffed them: they smelled like the memory of a garden from childhood.

Aren't they gorgeous? Days later, I am still rapturous at the very thought of them.

After ogling them for a while longer and spending considerable time deciding how best to enjoy them, I made this sauce.

Then everyone in my family ate it.

And that, friends, is why I love food.


Fabulous Sauce from Fabulous Tomatoes

This is one of my favourite simple no-cook pasta sauces, but it also makes a great salad if, like I did recently, you discover partway through your preparations that there is no pasta to be had in the house. This is also one of the rare times when I have to insist that you use the best olive oil you can get.

3-4 large heirloom tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 good quality extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
2 tbsp finely chopped basil
1 (340g) ball mozzarella, cut into small-ish cubes

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Lightly score each tomato with a sharp knife, then plunge the tomatoes into the boiling water (you may need to do this in batches) for just a minute or two, to facilitate peeling.
Scoop the tomatoes out of the water and peel them, then cut each tomato in half and remove the seeds. Core and coarsely chop tomatoes.
Place tomatoes in a large, non-reactive mixing bowl and toss gently with sugar, salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Let sit at room temperature a minimum of two hours, and as many as eight.
When nearly ready to serve (ie. while your pasta is boiling), add chives, basil and mozzarella to tomatoes and toss gently.
Makes sauce for about 450g of pasta, or salad for six.

Goals

I ran a 10 km race yesterday. It's really hard to type at the moment with my one hand patting myself on the back. Fifteen thousand people ran that race. Probably because it's dubbed the easiest 10 km in Toronto. I didn't come in first. There was maybe ten thousand people who past the finish line before me. I'm not really concerned since I'm not particularly competitive. I did have a goal of running a marathon before I was forty. The closer I get to forty, the more I downsize that goal. It went down to a half marathon last year, and recently I've downgraded it to "ah who cares".

I have tried to think of why I run races. I don't care where I place or how good my time is. It cost me money that I could spend on more pleasurable things, and takes up valuable time. After the race yesterday, me and my run crew went out for a tasty breakfast. Later on I spent a few hours flaked out on the couch, munched on fancy cheeses and had a few beers at dinner. By the end of the day it dawned on me that my whole motivation for running races is that it gives me a good solid two to three days of guilt free eating. Months of getting up early, running injuries and general exhaustion is worth a few days of eating without a care. It's a shallow goal, but one that I plan to continue to chase. I could of been a doctor, lawyer, or had some other fancy goal in life. But no, I'll keep it simple, run, eat, enjoy.

Bloody Eggs

1 16 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1 onion minced
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of turmeric
1 tsp of honey
black pepper to taste
1 tbsp of olive oil
6 eggs

Saute onion and garlic in a pan with oil. Add the rest of the ingredients except the eggs. Bring sauce to a boil and then simmer. Add eggs and poach until desired consistency. Serve with toasted baguette brushed with olive oil, and a green salad.