I've just placed my first order with The Better Bread Box, run by Carmen Dyck and Keith Jorgenson (who are also vendors at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market - business name "Fruition").

This week's selection features peach and blueberry baking (fruity muffins, granola, granola bars or fruit crisp), and hearty sandwich or artisan bread.

There are several pick-up locations in the, or the orders can be delivered for a nominal fee.

Check it out - fresh, local baking for $20 without messin' up your own kithen! :)

Call for frost tonight (-3 deg C) - Fall is definitely around the corner......

Happy Birthday to MEEEEE! and a New Product

This week marked my 43rd birthday, and I spent most of it making scones. I truly do apparently love what I do, because my personal tradition is to never work on my birthday. And I didn't even feel bad about it. I did, however, ensure that I frequented eating establishments that we do not normally go to with our boys. It was E.E. Burritos for lunch - Horchata (I love saying that word), which is kind of like cinnamon rice pudding in beverage form, if you've never had it, and a chicken enchilada - love their enchilada sauce! I had the song "Horchata" by Vampire Weekend running through my head the whole time - check it out on YouTube

For dinner it was Amigo's - chicken chimichanga (yep, it was a mexican-themed kind of day).

The highpoint was the cake, shown above, created by my lovely friend and kitchen-mate, Sherry Sawatzky of Sliced Decadence. For the base she made my favourite, maple pecan (with extra maple) and for the topper, my second favourite, chai. The mehndi design was inspired by a wedding cake she recently did - also, I was supposed to have received a permanent mehndi tattoo on my left hand/arm. Long story as to why that never happened. It goes without saying - the cake was fabulous.

This week I also introduced a new product to my Farmer's Market booth. Cathy Langdon, from In Our Handz, sold focaccia and cheesecakes at her booth at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market. She is launching her new business as a private practice dietician - the Food Mentor Knowing she would not have time to do both, she kindly asked me if I would be interested in taking on her focaccia product. I was happy to take it on, as it complemented my current product line, which also included European flatbread pizzas. It is sold by the pan (baked, ready to warm up) and slices, ready-to-eat, at the Market. It is made using a traditional Ciabatta dough - it is a fairly labour-intensive process, beginning the night before and much of the following day. The result is a dense and chewy texture - the flavous will be varied, and as always, ever-changing.

Fall - My Renewal Time of Year

September is (nearly) here, already. It seems like the the previous school year just ended, and now here we are gearing up for another year. Fall has always felt like a time of renewal for me. I always looked forward to the beginning of a new school year - a time to see old friends, and how much they'd changed over the summer, new classroom, new teacher, new clothes and brand new school supplies. It really felt like the beginning of a new year, more so than the calendar New Year.

I had to sneak in this pic of my oldest son when he was one, taken at Kitsilano Beach (where we lived at the time............sigh).

Now, Fall marks the beginning of the new set of cooking classes after taking a reprieve over the summer. If you haven't seen the new schedule , you will see a few changes. There is less of me in the schedule, and the addition of classes taught by two Red Seal Chefs, Chef Brent Lloyd and Chef Simon Reynolds. My personal life (ie. my children's lives) has become busier and it has become increasingly difficult to 'meet the demand'. Both Simon and Brent bring their own style, both personal and cooking, to the mix. On my homepage, you will see a Class Description page. You will find the overview of all the classes being offered this term - of course, if you have any questions, just ask! There are a few dates left for custom (private groups) cooking classes - if you are interested in booking something, I recommend you do so soon!

So I hope you all have had a wonderful summer, and I look forward to seeing you in an upcoming class or at the Market! :)

Saltspring, At Last!

Part Deux of my vacation post - our excursion to Saltspring Island, to take in the Farmer's Market.

Galiano Island (where we were staying) does have its own Farmer's Market, albeit smaller. The Saltspring Farmer's Market is, I believe, amongst the biggest/best known in British Columbia. To not go there, whilst in such close proximity, would be just pure silliness.

There is only one possible water taxi to take to the Market, and only one to get you back, so tardiness is not an option. We arrived about 20 minutes early, as advised by the owners. There was already a good handful of other people waiting around. I had no idea how many seats the 'taxi' would have - I knew it is used as the school taxi during the school year, so I was thinking 15, maybe 20? When it arrived, I was relieved to see that it sat ~50. It first stopped at Mayne Island, and then it was off to Saltspring. The trip there took a little over one hour. It seemed like a long time to spend getting to school, but then I realized that thousands of kids all over Saskatchewan spent that muc time (or more) on a bus each day. As we were approaching Ganges Harbour, we all couldn't help but gawk at a yacht that begged to be gawked at. I don't know enough about boats to talk specifics - but this is what you would envision when you think of the ultra-rich. It had a helicopter - a HELICOPTER!! crazy

Once we docked, we scrambled up to the Market - we were all hungry, so we stopped at the first place that looked good. It turned out to be a little wagon run by two elderly ladies - their fare consisted of all things fried - we got a potato on a stick (the potato was sliced into spirals using an attachment on an electric drill - ingenius! The slices were then put on a skewer) They had the equivalent of what we call elephant ears. And then there was the Dog on a Stick. I was thinking something along the lines of corndog, but that was naive. It was a wiener, wrapped in dough (like elephant ear dough), and then deep fried. Bad, bad...........but oh, so good!

Assured that our hearts were still pumping, we ventured on. We took a quick walkabout. Lots of artisans, not surprisingly - everything from children with craft-art, hand-crafted soaps, professional artists to all the fine (fine!) foods. Fresh produce was noticeably absent - we saw one vendor who had organic microgreens, but really, that was about it. The attendees were a little more reminiscent of the 60's (some of which lived through them, most of which would not have yet been a twinkle in their daddy's eye ;)

The Saltspring Island Cheese Company was a beehive of activity - so many varieties! We chose chevre topped with truffles.

I had to check out the Mustard vendor (of course), Joy and Alan Coupland - she had about a dozen or more varieties - I selected Herbed, and Lemon. Aside: We had a wonderful time trying to get through security with the two jars (they were taken from me - mustard does not equal mustard gas....................don't get me started) - just as I was beginning to create an 'incident', my husband unhappily volunteered to go back through security & check the two little terrorist threats. About 20 minutes later, he reappeared, and they did end up coming home with us.

I bought a lovely sunflower print, painted by Sherren MacLeod. Turns out she also runs a B&B on Saltspring (the running of which is where I'm heading, in about a decade, give or take a few years, and most likely on Galiano).

My boys were entranced with a guy performing with 'devil sticks'. I ended up buying them each a set to play with (there's good margins in tape-covered sticks). As I was walking through the park area to find my family, I heard music coming from the bandshell, it was 'oh mister sun, sun, mister golden sun, please shine down on me'. I thought, isn't that nice, someone is singing Raffi. As I made through the crowd, I could see the stage, & it WAS Raffi!! How cool is that?!

We had the opportunity to sample the food from a new vendor at the Market - a Japanese rice ball vendor. If you are unfamiliar with rice balls, they are a pizza-pocket style version of sushi (different fillings), packaged in the most clever way to keep the nori from getty soggy.

It truly was a great Market experience. We saw it all - the people, the products, the music and the wonderful foods made for wondeful memories. I'm so glad we took the time to get there - I was worried my boys would not feel the same, but they really had a blast.

With those happy memories in my head, while on our way back to the Harbour to take the water taxi back to Galiano, I took an unfortunate tumble down a couple of split-stone steps and sprained my ankle (which is still swollen to this day!) I'm just glad it happened at the end of the day, and at the end of our trip. Now I need to get it better before heading off to Paris in October!

My Summer, So Far

Summer got off to a great start - we left for the West Coast right after the Saturday June 26th Farmer's Market. Specifically, Galiano Island was our destination. If you're not familiar with the Southern Gulf Coast Islands, they are located in the Juan de Fuca Strait, between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island:

Galiano is the long, thin island, the second-largest of the southern gulf coast islands, Saltspring being the largest. It is also the second largest by population, which is sitting at around 1,200 right now.

This was a trip a couple of years in the making. My father rented a fully-equipped cabin right on the water for a week, and we all stayed together. The cabin was located on Whaler Bay, just a few minutes' walk from the Sturdies Bay Ferry Dock. "Downtown" Galiano is in between the two.

You instantly knew you had been transported to "Island Time" when, at 3pm (if you're lucky) everything except the little gas station/grocery has closed down for the day. On one day, we were looking for somewhere to eat lunch, and we were pointed to a painted camper trailer (The Flying Black Dog) across the street - we were advised that they had great food, if they were still open (this was about 1:45) . There were people there, so we thought we were in the clear. As we placed our order, I noticed a sign that said "sorry, closed at 2 today - going golfing". Our order was the last one put through. It was excellent food - I had a curried chickpea roti on rice, really fresh flavours.

The food stores were stocked a wee bit better than most cabin-type grocery stores - you could find pretty much anything you'd expect in a high end food store. You could literally cook any type of cuisine while staying there. The prices were surprisingly not sky high. In town there is the Sturdies Bay Bakery & Cafe - lovely little spot, great coffee and artisan breads.

The highlight of the week was unexpected - it was the Canada Day Jamboree. We missed the parade since we assumed the community hall where it was being held was nearby. Turns out Galiano Island is so long that they have two community halls. After about a 25 minute ride to the north end of the island, we joined in the celebration already underway.




The whole thing was so well-organized, even the food venue. There were salmon burgers (my choice), meat & veggie burgers, smokies/hot dogs. Coffee was served in real ceramic cups (did I mention there is no landfill on Galiano Island? We had to take all our our garbage from the cabin back with us on the ferry), as recycling is huge on the island (any island). There was a huge selection of from-scratch pies, ice cream.

After lunch, there were several carnival type games set up for the kids, including some of the old fashioned ones like 3 legged and potato sack race. One of the kids activities was purchasing a cake for $2 and decorating it. Live music was played throughout the festivities - at one point, Hallelujah could be heard. Where else, but a remote(ish) island, kind of stuck in the 60's, would you hear that at a Canada Day Celebration? :)

At the end of the day, people were allowed to take flowers from the big cart (shown above) that was part of the parade.

Apparently there are occasionally fireworks in the evening, but a fireban was currently in effect.

This was my favourite Canada Day to date. It was such a wholesome, not-cheezy, fun event. There was such a good spirit that could be felt. We've already booked the same cabin for 2011, & will continue to do so, all planned around Canada Day. So there will be many more Galiano Jamboree Canada Day celebrations in our future!

Next up - Saltspring Island Farmer's Market!!

Summer Cooking Classes!

There is an exciting lineup of classes being offered at the kitchen of Wild Serendipity Foods over the summer months!
Two chefs, Brent Lloyd and Simon Reynolds are running a series of classes over July and into August.

Click here for Simon's schedule
and
here for Brent Lloyd's schedule

Please direct any inquiries and/or registration for the classes to each chef directly - contact information is provided on the schedule sheet.

Have a great summer!

Exciting Things at the Farmer's Market!!

There are some exciting things happening at the Farmer's Market these days............

First, an update on our first Dinner at the Market - it was a resounding success! We received nothing but great reviews from the guests, some hoping that we would continue to hold them.......weekly!! (not a chance) It was a great experience all around, & we looking forward to holding more in the future.

That was a great segway for the next bit of news:
Chef Moe Mathieu, Head Chef Instructor at SIAST's culinary program, is going to be creating a "pop up restaurant" at the Farmer's Market, set to run 4 nights per week, starting towards the end of June. Moe will be setting up a restaurant within the Market, to be run out of Riverbend's kitchen. Come & check out this first-of-its-kind in Saskatoon. Enjoy a wonderful meal, then take a stroll along the River Landing promenade!

Then, starting on Thursday, July 1st, there will be a Thursday evening market, running from 5pm to 9pm. This market is set to run until mid-September. Stop by to eat/pick up your supper, shop from the vendors & tenants, enjoy some entertainment on the Square. Just one of the exciting things beginning to happen at River Landing!

Volcanoes

I

HATE

VOLCANOES

!!!!!!

(au revoir, until sometime in the future, Tour Eiffel, Cordon Bleu class, cool apartment off the Champs Elysees...............and most importantly, the food)

Sunday Dinner at the Market

On Sunday, May 2nd, the Saskatoon Farmer's Market is hosting its first "Sunday Dinner at the Market". Each course of the menu is being prepared by a Market Vendor (Click on the link for a full description). Yours truly is preparing the Thai Carrot Coconut Soup.

Tickets are only $25 per person; a wine & beer cash bar, put on by Cava Secreta, will be available.

Buy your tickets in advance - only a limited number will be sold!! Tickets can be purchased at the Market office, or at either the Fruition or Wild Serendipity Foods stall.

Shaw TV Tortoni Recipe

Here's the recipe for the Italian frozen dessert, Tortoni:

Tortoni

~1/2 cup almonds (skin on, or blanched)
5 oz amaretti cookies (or other crisp cookie)
3 TBSP dark rum (I use spiced rum)
3/4 cup chopped/shaved chocolate
1 cup whipping cream
3 TBSP brandy (or another complementary alcohol, such as Amaretto, Frangelico)
1 pint good quality vanilla ice cream, softened

Preheat oven to 350F. Toast the almonds for ~10 - 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then coarsely chop.

Crumble the cookies into ~1/2 inch pieces, using a ziploc bag if possible. Place the cookies in a large bowl. Sprinkle the 3 TBSP rum over top, tossing to combine. Place the cooled, chopped almonds and chocolate on top of the cookies; toss lightly to combine.

Whip the cream until moderately stiff. Add the 3 TBSP brandy (or other liqueur). Spoon the whipped cream on top of the cookie mixture.

Using a spatula, lightly mix the ice cream until it is uniform consistency; softened, but not melted. Add to the bowl. Using the spatula, fold the entire mixture together until just combined.

Pour the mixture into a plastic-lined loaf pan (or a springform pan). Freeze for several hours, or until firm. To serve, cut with a sharp knife.

Tip: to make this dessert even easier, use chocolate-covered almonds, coarsely chopped. Play with the all the component flavours - cookie (gingersnaps, for example), alcohol, nuts and ice cream. You can also add dried/candied fruit.

Fascinating Figs

I've been running a series of French K.I.S.S. classes, where one of the dishes is Fig & Walnut Tapenade with Chevre. Using the Calimyrna figs, I recalled a chef on Victoria Island telling me that the flower of the fig is actually on the inside of the flesh. I thought this was interesting - wasn't really sure how that worked, but filed it away in my memory files, nonetheless.

I was mentioning this fascinating fact to participants of the class, and was met most with puzzled looks. Because I wasn't entirely sure about the whole story, I thought I should research it a bit more.

It turns out that not only is the flower on the inside, what we consider the fruit is actually a part of the flower, with the blossom opening just inside the stem. I thought this seemed peculiar enough, until I read about the pollination process. There are female & male fig trees, which, of course, have to be cross-pollinated (only the female trees produce the edible fruit/flower. This is achieved by only one specific creature, the fig wasp! What an amazingly particular set of players, all to produce a fruit, which isn't even a fruit.

Nature truly is a thing of wonder.

Here's the recipe:

Fig & Walnut Tapenade with Chevre

1 cup finely chopped Calimyrna figs (stems removed)

1/3 (or more) cup water

1/3 cup finely chopped Kalamata olives

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP chopped capers

1 TBSP red wine or balsamic vinegar

2 TBSP finely chopped fresh thyme

1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 baguette, sliced on the diagonal, lightly toasted

chevre (as much as you like)

Cook the chopped figs with the water until soft; you could also microwave them. Transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, except the chevre & baguette. Season, to taste. Serve at room temperature. Spread a liberal amount of chevre on each baguette slice & top with tapenade.

It's mid-February, already!?

Bad blogger, bad blogger......................

Is it me, or is January the most glum month of the year? There is so much preparation and hype leading up to Christmas and New Year's, and then January feels like the crash after the big build-up. The weather here is generally the crappiest in January, it's light so late in the morning and dark so early, people are now getting their credit card bills for their likely-budget-exceeding Christmas purchases (I managed to escape that quandry this year - yippee!). Most people don't want to look at the scale (and some, of course, make promises and resolutions that seem to fade to nothingness come February), present party included.

The high point of my January is that a trip to Paris for April has been booked, including an ultra-cool apartment in the 8th arondissemnt, about 2 blocks from Champs-Elysees and about 5 blocks from the Arc de Triomphe.

And, just to sweeten the already sweet trip, I checked out the Cordon Bleu website and enroled in a one day pastry class. Complete with a certificate of completion, which will, of course, be framed & blatantly displayed.

Valentine's Day was yesterday. I had purchased a dinner & play package from La Troupe du Jour, which included a 5 course dinner at Calories, followed by the play, Encore (with English surtitles). The dinner was so wonderful, where to begin...............the special menu cannot be posted, but you can check it out on their website, which speaks for itself. Truly, I fell in love the the "Come Back Home", the beef tenderloin wellington, with a mushroom duxelle and cream sauce. Heavenly.

The premise of the play consisted of snapshots of a couple's wedding anniversaries over the span of 50 years. The coolest thing about the play was that the audience was actually in the lounge. We were seated at tables for two, and were able to order drinks from the waitress (also French), prepared in the bar, which was also part of the set. The wife had decided, prior to their first anniver sary, that they should re-enact their meeting, in a hotel-lounge, every year to keep their romance alive, and fall in love all over alive. Their relationship changes when once they have a child, and eventually collapses. They do end up getting back together, but it is bittersweet. As you watch their 50th anniversary acted out, the husband has been senile, and momentarily loses where he is, doesn't recognize his wife, and is, at times, vacant. The wife, originally very stubborn and overbearing, has grown to become sympathetic and sympathetic - their love evolved into a gentle and mature bond.

All in all, a delightful, and very sweet, way to spend Valentine's Day

Holiday Recipes for ShawTV

This is a great holiday appetizer that takes no time at all to prepare! I've written it with a Southwest flavour, but I have included Greek & Thai variations below. Happy Holidays!


Baked Garlic Lime Shrimp with Chipotle Dipping Sauce

1 pound shrimp, peeled & deveined, thawed
1/3 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 TSP smoked bittersweet paprika (available at Sous Chef)
juice and zest of one lime
salt, pepper to taste
chopped fresh parsely, for garnish, if desired

Preheat oven to 425F.

Place the shrimp on layers of paper towel to absorb as much water as possible; if there is excess water, the shrimp will poach, rather than bake. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the shrimp, stirring well to combine. Add the shrimp, tossing to coat. Set aside while preparing the dipping sauce. Do not allow the shrimp to marinate more than 30 minutes or they will begin to toughen.

Chipotle Dipping Sauce:

equal parts mayonnaise & sour cream, roughly 1/3 to 1/2 cup each
1 TBSP honey
juice of half a lime
2 TSP pureed chipotles in adobo sauce (chipotles are ripened jalapenos that have been smoked & dried; adobo sauce is a spicy tomato sauce. These are found in small cans in the Mexican section of stores including Safeway & Walmart)
salt, pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together & set aside.

Place the shrimp on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until the tails have turned pink & the shrimp are slightly pink and just beginning to brown.

Garnish with parsley & serve immediately.

Variations:
Greek - substitute lemons for limes in the recipe; omit paprika and subst. with oregano. For the dip, omit chipotles in adobo and add one clove minced garlic, the juice and zest of one lemon.

Thai - omit the smoked paprika and add a tablespoon of minced fresh ginger to the marinade. Serve with a spicy peanut dipping sauce. I've included a recipe, but you could always use a commercially prepared sauce:

3/4 cruncy peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut milk (unsweetened)
2 to 4 TBSP hot water
~ 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 to 2 TSP Asian Chili sauce (Sambal Oelek)
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP dark brown sugar
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 TSP chili flakes
1 TSP fresh grated ginger
1 TSP fish sauce (optional)
optional: fresh Thai basil, for garnish (avail. at the Eastern market on Ave B south)

Mix together & set aside.

Sushi Demo at the Farmer's Market!

Come on by the Saskatoon Farmer's Market on Wednesday, December 2nd at 1pm for a free Sushi Demonstration done by yours truly!

We've recently started incorporating a demo of some sort during the Wednesday market, & this week, I'm up.

I'll be demo'ing california rolls & vegetarian sushi. Everyone there will be eating what I make, as well :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - NOT!!

Over the years I spent living on the West Coast, we treasured these 'Fall-ish" weeks leading up to Christmas. We loved it - thought we were the luckiest people in Canada not having to endure the scraping, shivering and layers of clothing just to leave the house. I recall one Christmas in Victoria, walking along Oak Bay and observing a youth string ensemble playing Christmas carols on the sidewalk, store-fronts and streetlights decorated elaborately with live greenery. (think Charles Dickens played out in real life) I thought to myself, 'this is how Christmas should be!'.

Now, about to experience yet another Fall-ish day here in Saskatoon, on the 24th of November.......well, the feeling is shifting from enjoyment and 'lucky', to downright bizarre. No one here is in Christmas mode yet. Yes, there are a growing number of houses lit up in decoration, but it almost collectively feels forced. As if we're all looking at the calendar & thinking, "Whoa, it's the XX day of November - we should have our lights/wreath/tree/anything-to-do-with-Christmas up!!!"

I was at Costco yesterday, where a typical Monday morning at opening, a month before Christmas, could only be described as hell on earth. But wait, there were parking spots, many of them, in fact. I was able to leisurely make my way through the aisles, which were strangely less busy than just a few weeks ago. Unsettling, it was.

In my Holiday Cheer appetizer classes, I normally have Christmas carols playing in the background. I have still been making my mulled cider, so it at smells a lot like Christmas, but I haven't been able to make myself put the carols on. It just doesn't feel right. So, nu-jazz is what is on - reasonably fitting, but more for New Years than Christmas.

Snow. It's what we need, & secretly want (even those of you who claim you don't). Not a blizzard - we're not that greedy for it. Just a sprinkle, a light dusting, if you will. Something that gently announces "It IS beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"

Well, being that it's now the 24th of November, when that moment comes, and come it will.........we will have that joyful feeling for a few minutes, before widespread panic sets in. There will be ladders and lights, full parking lots with people, stores bursting at their seams......people, people everywhere, in lineups, ATMs, on sidewalks and ladders. First happy, then irritated, then just plain old irate.

With that, I'm now going to head out - in my warm car, light clothing and winterboot-less. Blissfully enjoying this unexpected, and inevitably doomed, extended Fall.

The Yoghurt Guy

This is not a happy post.

We learned today Bernie Hounjet, a.k.a. the Yoghurt Guy at the Saskatoon Farmer's Market (and also the president of the Board of Directors), has passed.

My heart goes out to his family, especially Celine, whom I have watched grow up at the Market.

Rest in Peace, Bernie. You will be missed.

Oh What Fools These Mortals Be..............

Spoken from yours truly, the Autumn Fairy (for the day). The costume was a few months in the planning (in my head, anyway), and a wee bit of work last week. Despite the snow, it was a fun market. You can see on my stand a little sign that says "bits of glitter are free! (today only)". I opted to post that once I noticed little clouds of glitter falling from me whenever I moved, as my arms were also covered in it. Going towards the costume cost recovery fund, I took in 1st prize at the market for best costume - dinner for the family at Boston Pizza :)

French-Inspired Fall Flavours

Tonight's dinner was one of those meals that somehow came together with things I already had in the pantry (a rare occurence in my house). I still had some ultra-thick boneless pork chops from Costco in the freezer - the only protein other than eggs, in the house - so I started out by thawing them.


Peaking through the refrigerator, I saw that I still had a couple of local apples, and a few local baby cabbages (so cute!). I remembered I had a couple of cans of Gaymers apple cider, and there it was.......dinner. This dish is representative of the Northern (Normandy) region of France.

Apple Cider Braised Pork Loin with Cabbage

~ 6 boneless pork loin chops (I sliced my ultra-thick ones in half)
2 TBSP butter
salt, pepper
~ 12 ounces hard apple cider (such as Gaymers, Strongbow), or about 1 1/4 cups apple juice plus 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (drink the remaining cider while you continue with the recipe)
4 to 6 cups of finely shredded cabbage (young, if possible), without cores
2 apples, cored & sliced - I leave the peel on
2 TSP cornstarch
1/2 cup light or heavy cream

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Season the pork with salt & pepper; brown, both sides, in pan. Remove the browned meat and set aside. Deglaze the pan with roughly 1/2 cup of the apple cider, scraping up bits from the bottom.

Add the cabbage and apples, tossing to coat. Season generously with salt & pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes, then return pork to pot. I placed the pork on top of the cabbage, and then heaped some of the cabbage on top, so that the pork was in the middle. Add the remaining apple cider.

Bring to a boil, then cover & simmer for ~25 minutes. The meat will be cooked through and the cabbage should be completely tender. Cook a bit longer if the cabbage is not tender enough. Check for seasoning; adjust if necessary. Remove the pork and set aside. Sprinkle the cornstarch over; stir to combine. I like the sauce to be a bit thickish - if you'd rather not add the cornstarch, skip this step.

Add the cream. Return to a boil and cook until the cabbage mixture has thickened. Place the cabbage apple mixture on a platter & top with the pork. Drizzle some of the sauce over top of the pork to serve.

Adding MAJOR Flavour

I always mention these products in my cooking classes, so I thought I'd talk about them here. These oils/extract are produced my a company called Boyajian. I started off with the lime oil, which I use in many of my southeast-asian soups, my ginger lime wasabi mustar, and now my ginger lime coconut scones. Just a drop or two adds a HUGE amount of pure, powerful lime flavour. I have since bought the orange oil, and most recently, the pure maple extract. The maple extract adds a big boost of flavour to my maple oatmeal scones. Even though they have a good amount of maple syrup, this greatly heightens the flavour - since, you can never have too much maple flavour. I highly recommend trying out these products!

I have smelled the other products, which are all available at Sous Chef in Erindale. If you have never checked out the store, and you're into interesting & exotic food items, you simply must go. You'll find an vast array of gourmet salts, vinegars, mustards, peppercorns........too much to describe, really. ie. go there, soon.........

The Birthplace of Scones (and Bannock)

During this past Saturday's market, as I was talking to a customer about the scones I tried in Scotland, I realized I had neglected to mention them in my blog.

Scotland is the birthplace of scones, and yes, the "correct" pronunciation is 'skon', not 'scone'. The original Gaelic word sounds more like "schkon". I, however, have been saying 'scone' forever, & I don't think I could change it now. (btw, the Queen of England says 'scone'..........)

The scone pictured above was from a lovely little cafe in Elie. They had several varieties to choose from, & I chose this one - a cherry scone. Of course, I was envisioning something along the lines of the sour cherry toffee scones that I make...........and was sadly disappointed. The cherries were, in fact, chopped up candied cherries. Eeww. Dismissing my unhappiness with the cherry flavour, I focused on the scone, itself. Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I am extremely humble when it comes to my own culinary creations. My scones, as popular as they are, don't strike me as anything particularly noteworthy. I am now thinking my faithfull & enthusiastic customers may, in fact, be drawn to more than my sunny disposition (and may actually be buying my scones in spite of it :) . The scone in question............pretty much sucked. The texture was somewhat dry & cakey, the flavour was lacking, well, flavour. Echos of 'these really are the best scones I ever had' from my happy customers came to mind.

I did have an opportunity to try another scone in Pittinweem, at the Cocoa Tree, which I previously talked about. There, I had what I know to be a cream scone, flavoured with chocolate chips. This scone was actually really good, albeit messy, as the scone was served warm........hence, I looked like a 3yr old with my fingers covered in melted chocolate. It was comparable to mine, definitely, although slightly more cakey in texture.

After doing a bit of research when I came home, it turns out that in North America, the base of our scones evolved into containing siginificantly more sugar and butter than the original version. Are we surprised?? Of course ours (well, mine in particular ;) taste better........how could they not?

So there you have it. In the end, I was comparing apples to oranges.........well, maybe apples to crabapples. Similar, but essentially a different beast altogether.

Now, about bannock. I noticed on the menus something called 'bannock'. As it turns out, it is exactly was we associate with the Indigenous food. I had never before heard of a link between the two, and had always assumed that the origins were in North Amercia. After researching the topic, it turns out the opposite is true. Bannock, or bread, has its origins in Scotland, first reference in the year 1000. It is leavened with baking powder & typically cooked in a greased pan, What I found even more interesting was that when the bannock is cut into wedges, the wedges were called 'scones'. The circle is complete.