Our very own article featured on Organic Alberta!
We all know these past few months have been a struggle and full of uncertainty, but will our local food system see a positive impact from this pandemic? Will society shift to a slower pace, supporting local business and cooking at home?
Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread
This is a very traditional Irish bread. It would be seen on most menus along with a soda bread of some sort. It’s dense, rich in flavour, and so good for you. I love it, but it’s a bread that really has to be eaten within a day or two. Delicious with soup, as the base for different canapes or as a sandwich bread.
Homemade BBQ Sauce
This recipe is inspired by Ina Garten, I have adjusted the quantities slightly, removed a few ingredients and use a combination of maple syrup and honey instead of straight honey. It makes 1 litre of sauce, so I often make half a recipe!
Catching a Bee Swarm
If you read my last update on the bees you know our over-wintered hive attempted to swarm, but we split the hive to stop them – with success, thankfully. July has been wet, no doubt, and the queen continues to lay as this is the busiest time of the year for the bees and a strong colony is super important to ensure they are able to bring in enough resources for the winter. We did a hive inspection just over a week ago and noticed the number of bees in our middle hive (which was the nuc we purchased earlier this year) had gone up, they were starting to run out of room (meaning the frames were nearly full), so we added another box. The next day, I was about to start teaching an online workshop when the doorbell rang, I opened the door, it was our neighbour. “Kaelin, I’m not sure what’s happening, but your bees are everywhere and they are very noisy.” I looked through to the back of the yard, and sure enough, I could see bees… a lot of them! A four letter word came out of my mouth, there wasn’t much I could do as I had students waiting and really, you have to wait for the bees to calm down. By the time I was done talking to the neighbour, the bees were already settling into a spruce tree in our yard (thankfully!).
Potato Salad
This recipe comes from Ballymaloe Cookery School and although I love an old-school potato salad, this recipe rivals them. It’s made with Riverbend Gardens new potatoes. Did you know, new potatoes aren’t baby potatoes, they are potatoes that have yet to form a skin? The first potatoes of the season, a short season and a true taste of summer. I always have a problem with “baby potatoes,” not that I think small potatoes shouldn’t be eaten, but potatoes that are grown to be sold as baby potatoes often leave larger potatoes in the field and can often be top killed to stop growth.
Rosy Farms U-Pick
Rosy Farms, a haskap orchard just 45 minutes out of Edmonton is perhaps one of my favourite places to go and get lost during the summer months, head down picking berries until my hands are deep purple. Owned by my friend Andrew Rosychuk, it’s a peaceful little farm in Sturgeon County with views of surrounding grain crops, sounds of bird song and the aroma of sweet haskap berries. If I’m being totally honest, you’ll also probably smell bug spray (on yourself!) and hear the buzzing sound of mosquitos – a flat, calm prairie farm with a dugout in the center, it is Alberta, we take the bugs with the summer months!
Sundog Organic Farm
For years I have said I want to share the stories of my favourite farmers and producers on my blog to share these important stories with more than those who come to my classes. Although this pandemic is awful in so, so many ways, it’s been really nice to have more time to put toward some of these things that get pushed to the bottom of the list as a busy entrepreneur. So, over the course of the summer, I will be asking my favourite farmers and producers a handful of questions and sharing their stories on the blog.
Looking Back at a Year With Backyard Bees
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I got my bees – I remember the anticipation and the nerves as I started on the crazy adventure of being a “backyard beekeeper”, now it feels quite normal and I often think about how funny the top of the garden would look without the hives.
Springtime at the Market
Spring is perhaps my favourite time of year to be in the kitchen teaching, it’s been hard this year not being able to share some of my favourite recipes with students in classes. After those hungry months leading up to the end of April beginning of May, we get so...
Tagliatelle with Asparagus
This recipe has been adapted from the River Café in London.
Spinach and Rosemary Soup
This recipe comes from Ballymaloe. The trick with green soups is not to add the greens until the last minute, otherwise they will overcook and the soup will lose its fresh taste and bright green colour.
Oven Roasted Asparagus
I’ve said it a million times, when asparagus are in season from Edgar Farms, I eat them everyday, sometimes twice and I don’t eat them again until the following year. Last year I shared a sprig salad with radish and asparagus here. I love asparagus all ways, but perhaps my favourite is simply roasted or even boiled in a bit of water and tossed with butter and salt — the key with asparagus is not to over cook them.
Hot Milk Sponge with Fresh Berries and Cream
The best way to eat this cake is dusted with icing sugar, with berries galore and softly whipped jersey cream. If you’re using strawberries alone it’s nice to slice them up and put a tablespoon or two of sugar on them and leave them in the fridge for an hour or two before serving.
Rhubarb Muffins
This is an old family recipe and is equally as delicious with wild blueberries as it is rhubarb!
Burnt Spring Onion Dip
This dip is inspired by an Ottolenghi recipe. It is delicious in so many ways, but it really is the ultimate chip dip.
Radish with Thyme
This is such a simple way to cook radish – did you know that the greens have more nutritional value than the roots?
Auntie Lil’s Rhubarb Tart
Auntie Lil’s Rhubarb Tart – perhaps one of my favourite rhubarb recipes. I picked this rhubarb up from Sundog Organic Farm at Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market.
Preserved Lemons
One of the most requested recipes when I ask what friends would like me to share is for preserved lemons! They’re super simple and oh so delicious!
Chicken Stock
I could talk about the difference between homemade chicken stock and store-bought for hours. It makes a world of difference in flavour, and you know exactly what’s in it and how much salt you’ve added to whatever it is you’re using the stock for. I freeze it in one and a half cup and three cup quantities and use it for soups, sauces and gravy. You can make stock with raw or cooked carcasses – either is fine. If you use a cooked carcass your stock will not be as clear, but it tastes just the same. Homemade stock is so good for you it is known as ‘Jewish penicillin’, and it’s one of those things that just makes you feel like it’s doing you good as you eat it. This is the same recipe for turkey stock.
Vegetable Stock
It’s worth doubling or tripling the recipe to pop leftovers into the freezer. If you don’t have time to make chicken stock, use homemade veg stock in place of bought stock!