Avocado, Crab & Tomato Salad

My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary this past week. It was a great first year and we couldn't believe how quickly time passed. To celebrate the occasion, we decided to do something different. Instead of going out for a great and extravagant dinner, we decided to have a great and extravagant dinner at home by creating our own tasting menu, based on our favourite foods. It was unexpectedly exhausting but our three hour extravaganza allowed us to put the rest of the world and all the distractions of our everyday life on pause while we took a bit of time to slow down and enjoy time with each other. As we recalled our memories of our shared life together, in the years before our wedding day and the year since, we found ourselves laughing until our sides ached.

For this very special evening, I started the evening out with crab, one of my favourite foods. This appetizer is super easy, fresh and flavourful. The avocado is velvety and smooth, the tomato fresh and clean, and the crab is luxurious and dressed so simply that its true flavours come through.

Avocado, Crab and Tomato Salad



Serves 2

You don't need a fussy plating for this, you can toss all the ingredients together instead of placing them in layers.

1/2 ripe avocado - diced (click here for tips on how to prep)
8 cherry tomatoes - diced
1/4 lb lump crab meat - dark & white meat
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 lemon (zest & juice)
pepper to taste

1. Divide the cubed avocado into 2 and place in the center of each plate.
2. Repeat with the tomatoes.
3. Gently mix crab with mayonnaise, celery salt, lemon zest & juice. Add pepper to taste.
4. Pile crab onto tomatoes and serve immediately.
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Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me

If I had my little way I'd eat peaches everyday
Sun soakin' bulges in the shade
- Presidents of the United States of America

Peaches are one of my favourite fruits. They are sweet, dribble-down-your-chin juicy, and refreshing. And right now, local Ontario peaches are in season!


I love them in all of their shapes & forms from tinned peaches that offer a taste of summer when eaten in the dark dreary nights of winter, to the fragrant, massive globes found in the farmer’s market these days. They are heavenly when ripe and sweet, but they are also quite delicious under a crisp buttery granola topping or piled thickly & tucked into a sweetened pie crust. And, of course, I love them in this week's gooey summery jam.

Every year I vow, "Never again!" after I wearily emerge from a steamy kitchen with burnt fingers in a haze of sugar and fruit. Jam-making is a tedious task. (Not sure if it's this troublesome for everyone, but it certainly is for me.) Every year, I feel like I spend hours prepping & chopping fresh fruit, sterilizing jars, counting out lids & screw-tops, and processing.

But all of that fatigue and weariness fades away when there is a row of gleaming mason jars sitting on my kitchen counter. I well up with pride seeing all those hours of chopping, stirring and processing translated into pristine, shiny jars of jams. Then when I open up a jar and thickly smear that sweet, sticky and fruity jam onto warm, crusty toast, I know exactly why I make my own jam. There is nothing like it.



I have been making this beautiful peach lavender jam for years. It is intensely peachy and slightly floral from the lavender. It's summer in a jar.

While, I have tried my hands at other jams: strawberry, mixed fruit and even apple butter, the jam I long for the most, is this really special peach lavender jam.

Ah, peaches.


Peach Lavender Jam

1 tbsp dried lavender buds (organic)
1/4 c hot water
5 c peaches (peeled, pitted and chopped)
2 tbsp lemon juice
7 c granulated sugar
1 pouch pectin

1. Soak lavender in hot water for at leat 30 minutes. Strain and reserve tea.
2. In a large pot, add peaches, lemon juice, lavender tea, sugar and pectin.
3. Cook until the mixture boils and bubbles.
4. Skim off scum.
5. Boil for at least five to ten minutes or until jam sets. (To test, place a saucer in the freezer. Drop a small dollop on the cooled saucer. If the jam gels and appears jammy, then you're done.)
6. Carefully pour into sterilized mason jars. Secure with lid and screw cap on (not tightly, but firmly).
7. Process jam in a large water canner for at least 15-20 minutes from boiling point(check your elevation and adjust your times accordingly)
8. Carefully remove jars from hot water, cool on a clean tea towel. Refrain from moving for at least 1 day.

A great source for all things canning can be found at the National Center for Home Preservation: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

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I'll Be Back...

Summer is usually a time for breaks in our day to day routines. It's a time for lazy afternoons, ice cream cones, backyard barbeques, and time with friends and family. Unfortunately, I have not been kicking back and relaxing... (Because I would be cooking up a storm and oh, to think of the jams and pies I'd make...)

But in fact, I have been caught up in something more banal. It's an extremely busy time at work and I have literally been chained to my desk trying to be a good employee. So please, please stay tuned because as Arnie says, "I'll be back" and we'll get caught up then. I promise.

A Summer's Lunch

In everyone's kitchen, there is one appliance that is indispensible. It's the one appliance that never collects dust. It works harder than all the rest, while the others are relegated to dark corners of the kitchen. In our household, it's our panini maker.

Perhaps the reason our panini maker gets quite a workout is our love for warmed, toasted sandwiches with delicious savoury fillings. In our household, there are few lunches that are as satisfying as a savoury cup of soup and a grilled sandwich oozing with melted cheese. No matter the season, our lunch-time mood always suits a grilled sandwich.

This week, I share with you one of my absolute favourite summer sandwiches. It includes a thick (read: generous) smear of tangy softened goat cheese, roasted sweet red pepper, and fresh fragrant basil leaves sandwiched between fresh toasted ciabatta melded together in my trusty panini maker.

Grilled Sandwich with Goat Cheese, Tomatoes and Roasted Red Peppers
1 4" slice fresh ciabatta bread sliced cross-wise
1-2 tbsp soft goat cheese (chevre)
1/4c roasted red pepper slices
1 small tomato sliced length-wise
3 large sized basil leaves

salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat panini maker. Toast ciabatta slices cut side down until toasted & grilled markets appear.
2. Once toast is ready, spread goat cheese onto bottom slice of hot toasted bread.
3. Top with roasted red pepper & tomato slices. Sprinkle with sea salt & pepper. Then layer basil leaves and firmly place top of the ciabatta on top.

Serve with a spring mix salad or a small cup of roasted tomato soup.
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Strawberries In Full Swing

Another week gone by... and what a week it was. We spent the Canada Day "extra" long weekend in Montreal visiting friend and my in-laws. (It's extra long because Canada Day fell on a Wednesday this year and we took Thursday and Friday off to give us five wonderful days away from work.) As usual, it was a non-stop buffet of food. Quebec seems to bring out both the gluttons and connoisseurs in us. My mother-in-law is a great cook and of course, this is a province that prides itself on wonderful outdoor markets offering up great local fruits and vegetables and time honoured artisan breads, cheeses and meats.

We stocked up on our favourite cheeses, chocolates, Montreal-style bagels, smoked meat, and kosher pickles. Of course, we also must take advantage of seasonal produce when possible and right now, the local strawberries have arrived. Oh happy days.

If you're about my age, maybe you grew up only savouring fresh strawberries in early summer. However, times have changed and cheap strawberries now are available all year around in the supermarket. However, these supermarket citizens are not known to be all that tasty. (And that is being kind!) No, in fact, they tend to be watery, sour and mealy. But around late June to early July, a small window opens and local strawberries make an appearance. These little rubies seem a world away from their year-around siblings; they are delicate, smaller in size but lusciously red and intensely juicy!

We bought half a flat and picked them off one by one all the way to the car! I wondered for a moment if they would even make it home...

The stars must have aligned for this week's posting... The inspiration came to me as we drove through picturesque Quebec countryside and in the first place we stopped in, an Trappist monk gift shop, meringues appeared. Divine intervention, perhaps?

(While meringues are so easy to make, it is nice to run across light and crisp meringues you can pick up and take home.)




Eton Mess is hardly a recipe - because if I told you to macerate strawberries, add some whipped cream, crumble in some meringue cookies, and throw it all together, you'd have an Eton Mess, too. It's that simple.

Eton Mess


1 pint fresh strawberries, cleaned & sliced
1 tbsp brown sugar

1 c whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

meringue cookies (use as many as you see fit) (I used 180 grams for this recipe)

Directions:
1. Slightly mash strawberries and brown sugar. Set aside for at least ten minutes or longer.
2. Whip cream and vanilla until soft stiff peaks.
3. Crumble meringues coarsely. Gently stir into whipped cream. Add about half of strawberries and liquid. Fold gently.
4. Spoon large spoonfuls of strawberries into a serving dish. Dollop with generous amounts of whipped cream mixture. Top with strawberries and drizzle with remaining juice. Serve immediately.

*I didn't sweeten the whipped cream because I wanted the natural flavours of the strawberries to come through.
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Dining Al Fresco: Greek Salad

Finally, summer has arrived! The signs are clear: the farmer's market was open for business this week, and of course, we turned on our air conditioning for the first time this year!

The most apparent sign, of course, is my garden is starting to take off.... I see flower buds forming on my tomatoes plants, the mizuna is lush and the cucumber seeds have finally sprouted. My radishes have shown their true leaves and we can't wait to snack! (Fingers crossed.)



Unfortunately, none of my lettuce sprouted (I had to re-seed), but I found this nut growing in the lettuce beds likely planted by some wily squirrel last autumn.



Summer is a natural time for salads. Cool, refreshing and light-tasting made with in-season produce. When it's hot in the kitchen, I love a fresh salad with a side of grilled garlic bread for dinner. However, one of the salads I never like was Greek salad. In my defense, my introduction to Greek salad was not exactly inspiring: Insipid soggy iceberg lettuce, weighted down by grainy tasteless tomatoes and oily dressing. But that changed for me about two years ago, when my future husband and I went to Montreal to visit his parents. They took us to a fantastic Greek restaurant where I was properly introduced to Greek salad: Fresh sweet tomatoes, crispy crunchy peppers, graced with lightest touch of olive oil, and delicate salty feta. I came home that weekend with a new love and made that salad almost every weekend last summer. This salad has easily become one of my favourites.

In the warm days of summer, this is such a beautiful, colourful and clean-tasting salad to eat. It's a perfect accompaniment to chicken soulvaki and lots of tzatziki.

The secret to this salad is to slightly pickle the red onion for at least half an hour. The onions remains crunchy, but the onion's sharp taste muted. It takes away the bite (and also the bad breath!) The rose-tinged vinegar doubles as part of the vinaigrette.




Greek Salad

1 small onion - sliced thinly
1 c white vinegar
3 Roma tomatoes, cut into bite sized chunks
1 small sweet yellow pepper, cut into bite sized chunks
1/2 seedless cucumber, cut into half moons
1/4 tsp ground oregano (or a small handful of fresh oregano leaves)
1/3 c Kalamata olives
1/3 c crumbled goat's milk feta

extra virgin olive oil
large flake sea salt

1. Soak onions in vinegar. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.
2. Toss peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and oregano together.
3. Top with olives and drained red onions.
4. Sprinkle feta.
5. Drizzle 1.5 tbsp of the vinegar and olive oil on top.
6. Serve.
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