This week, I've been reading the best cookbook to come my way in years: The Salmon Recipes. This is a recipe book for anyone wanting to get a West Coast taste into their meals. More than just a list of recipes, this book has short notes from the contributors on their experiences living on the north coast of British Columbia, as well as their memories.
As it says on the back cover: "In this book the people of the north coast reach out in celebration of our rich culture of food in a bountiful region that has supported the gathering and sharing of sea resources since the beginning of time."
The recipes include many ways to prepare salmon as well as other kinds of seafood. But that's only one part of this book's appeal. Taken in series, the paragraphs and stories on pages facing the recipes are a heartfelt invitation to understand more about the lives of people living on the coast. The many colourful and informal photographs alone are worth the cover price!
Many of the stories involve beachcombing or going out in small boats. I particularly liked the story "One of his eight arms" by Luanne Roth:
Once in our prawn trap there was a small octopus holding a prawn. He was a bit scared and disoriented, but the whole time we had him out of the water, tipping the trap to have a better look as he pulled himself around, he kept one of his eight arms outstretched with the end carefully holding his prawn.
The Salmon Recipes: Stories of Our Endangered North Coast Cuisine
by the Prince Rupert Environmental Society
New Society Publishers
www.saveourskeenasalmon.org.
Check here on Facebook for news about their book launch and possibly more news in future.
Finally the Victoria Public Market http://victoriapublicmarket.com/ opened on September 14 and 15. We attended the first day of opening. On the Friday night as we drove by we could see that the space still didn't look ready to actually open. Correct, many of the vendors weren't present and although we have returned there are some spaces that still have not opened.
Congratulations are in order to Silk Road Teas who participated in the opening in grand style and had the booth that seemed the most crowded. It is nice to have a second location of my favourite place for tea and I'm sure they will be very successful. For those of you who don't venture downtown to the main location on Government or to the new location in the Hudson, Fairways does carry Silk Road Tea as well.
Can tell Victoria Pie Co. is very popular. Haven't been able to try a pie as they are always sold out. Must be delicious! Hoping to have an opportunity to grab a pie one day.
Sutra and Roast both tempt me but I haven't tried them either. Very busy locations which I'm hoping will settle once the novelty of the market wears off.
Did buy a wonderful croissant for my partner at The French Oven. I wish my friends from France, Karin and Bruno were still living here because they would finally find a good baguette!! If I could eat cheese I'd add some Salt Spring Island cheese to the baguette and make a delicious French lunch. Maybe with some balsamic from Olive the Senses to drizzle over the whole concoction. Sigh....oh dairy allergy I hate you some days.
Wednesdays is the farmer's market outside the Hudson, at the back of the building. Unfortunately it only runs from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. I don't work downtown and miss out on this wonderful market. Here you will find the Doughboys who make delicious doughnuts. Maybe not working downtown is a good thing, I'd be craving these far too much.
Looking forward to seeing what events and offerings the Victoria Public Market will dish up in the very near future!
Happy Birthday Julia -- you'd be 100 today! Your legacy lives on in those of us who cook with passion!
John and I went whale watching on Monday August 6 as the kick off to our staycation. This was a Groupon we had for whale watching on July 13th but winds prevented us from going. We had rebooked to go during our August week off. The whale watching was with http://5starwhales.com/ and photos can be seen at www.kayakyak.blogspot.ca/2012/08/hanging-with-j-pod-again.html After the whale watching we had plans to have lunch at The Joint Pizza http://thejointvictoria.com/ but they had closed for BC Day. So we wandered around along Johnston Street (aka LoJo) trying to decide if we should have breakfast lunch at Jam Cafe http://www.jamcafevictoria.com/ We do love Jam Cafe bacon! Along the way we noted Mo:Le which we hadn't been inside for a year or longer. John being very hungry by this time and needing to eat couldn't drag his body any further and Jam seemed faraway. We succumbed to delicious food smells and were provided with a table for two without any waiting time.
We hadn't eaten a large breakfast as we were going to be on the water and we have found eggs cause upset stomachs. By the time we got off the boat and wandered around it was now almost 2pm. Last food we'd eaten was at 7am and by now we were well into the famished stage.
First we ordered drinks -- John had his usual diet Coke and I had a soy milk chai latte. Soy, almond and hazelnut milk is offered, as well as gluten free bread, options available for those of us with allergies. We ordered the basic breakfast, with a side of bacon each. Everything was tasty, the homemade hot sauce is really good and the pesto pan fried potatoes are the best part of the breakfast. My latte was a bit cold though. The service is attentive, we were checked on by the serving staff several times to ensure we had drinks and food.
Nice to revisit Mo:Le and have a meal that is consistent a year or two later.
John and I have been on vacation this week, or rather staycation as this time we did not leave Victoria to take advantage of a Groupon coupon vacation. This meant we got to find fun things to do around Victoria. Based on finding a 2 of 1 coupon in the Saanich News that is good until August 15th we decided to try Cabin 12 http://www.cabin12.ca/ for lunch, only we discovered and were told by our friendly waiter, the lunch menu isn't as extensive in the burger offerings as dinner. We had breakfast for lunch instead. Our eggs were done to our liking, the requested crispy bacon was done to perfect crispiness, the toast was good and the hash browns were the regular fare offered at other locations, such as John's Place http://www.johnsplace.ca/ Good but nothing to write home about.
We returned to Cabin 12 on Thursday for dinner to use the 2 for 1 coupon. The burger selection is extensive and deciding wasn't easy. John had the Enforcer -- one juicy burger with salami on it. He said he would never have thought of putting salami on a burger but it was a damn fine idea. I had the Big Kahuna -- delicious beef (yes I had beef) with a teriyaki sauce and a grilled pineapple ring -- messy but OMG! My green salad was very nice, with peppers and lettuce other than iceberg, plus I gave points for getting the dressing on the side without having to ask for it that way. The dressing was excellent.
Obviously we enjoyed our dinner because I've clipped the coupon in this week's Saanich News to have dinner there again this coming week after my chiropractor appointment. Going for the vegetarian Birkenstock burger.
Not being a huge caesar salad fan I still wanted to find a dairy free one that I could have in my recipe collection to present to guests. I found one online, really what isn't online these days, and made it without having all the ingredients called for. Again improvising a recipe to compensate for my dairy allergy. I've indicated the original and then noted what I did with the recipe from what was available in my fridge.
Caesar Dressing -- Dairy Free
2 Tbsp of mayo -- vegan
I used fat free Miracle Whip which contains egg yolk no other dairy
2 Tbsp mustard
1/2 the juice from one lemon
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
I used BRAGG instead as it is dairy and gluten free
2 zested garlic cloves
I used 1/8 tsp of crushed garlic and then a bit more to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Stir all ingredients together, taste and adjust. Remember that it will taste a bit different the next day. I used a bit more Miracle Whip after I stirred it all together. On a taste test with my partner he said it was like Caesar salad dressing.
Dressing #2 was inspired by receiving fresh basil in the food box. Fresh basil smells wonderful and begs to be used in a pesto. As I've cut down on eating pasta to almost not at all I decided a dressing for a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers would be perfect.
Fresh Basil Dressing
1 cup of fresh basil
2/3 cup of olive oil
1/3 cup of lemon juice
1/8 tsp of salt
Put basil in a blender, with the lid on the blender but the center lid off, gently pour in the oil as you blend the basil. Add the lemon juice and salt, blend until mixed. Store in a glass jar until ready to make the salad. I like to leave dressing overnight or make them earlier in the day so the flavours have time to blend.
On a side note, I was surprised the basil and oil didn't go all over my kitchen walls. I think I will use less lemon juice next time. Otherwise I really like this dressing.
1 cup of fresh basil
Yesterday was another day of summer here in Victoria BC. We are having much cooler Springs and it takes longer for summer to arrive so the garden is taking longer to produce anything. I have already pulled up radishes and need to plant another batch to harvest later. My carrots are probably not going to mature, lesson learned is to plant them in a deeper 4x4 box next year. I am trying beans that were given to me. I have flowers on the plant but not sure what that means.
The strawberry plant is doing well. To keep it protected from the birds and slugs when I first noticed them I wrapped an old sheer curtain around the plants. It worked very well in protecting the plant while allowing sunshine to still reach the strawberries. I harvested about a cup, removed the ones that were squishy, checked the plant for slugs and then re-wrapped it to hopefully let the rest of the strawberries ripen. While I was doing this my partner John was building the new 4x4 boxes. As we moved around our jungle we found two batches of raspberries. I got another cup of berries to add to the strawberries. Decided it was perfect timing to make some freezer jam.
I had some freezer pectin which I pulled out of the pantry and read I needed 4 cups but I only had two. Went to The Root Cellar http://www.therootcellar.ca/ to purchase some local raspberries or strawberries to add to the two cups I had. Now I could have used my two cups and divided the pectin package but being powder, plus knowing my own abilities making jam I thought I better not attempt this. Freezer jam is simple, no cooking required, just mashing the berries, adding the pectin, stirring for 3 minutes and done. I didn't have any mason jars as they are all in use but no worries, freezer jam can be stored in freezer containers, either plastic (Tupperware without BPA is great) or stainless food containers. So I decided to make the full 4 cups of jam to have one frozen to use later and one in the fridge to use now.
Once the strawberries are done we are moving them into one of the 4x4 boxes. Will add more and have a designated strawberry box.
