Radish salsa, guacamole, olives, roasted beets

Risi e Bisi served with Caprese salad

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
• 2 ounces pancetta, cut into small cubes
• 1 1/2 cups of small grain brown rice parboiled for 13 minutes or arborio rice
• 8 cups of water or chicken stock, heated until hot
• 1 1/2 cups of shelled peas
• 3 garlic scapes, finely chopped
• 1 cup of cava or dry white wine
• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano
• salt & fresh ground black pepper

1. Add the olive oil 10- to 12- inch heated sauté pan and cook the pancetta for a minute or two. Combine the onions, celery, and garlic scapes and cook over medium heat until they are softened but not browned.

2. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes, until it is amost opaque. Add 1 cup of cava or wine and stir until the wine has evaporated. Add enough water to barely cover the rice (about 1 cup) and cook, stirring until the water is absorbed. Keep adding water, one ladleful at a time, and stirring constantly. After about 15 minutes taste the rice; it should still be al-dente but getting close to being done.

3. Add the peas and continue to cook for about 4 more minutes, adding a bit more water, until the rice is tender and creamy yet still al dente. The risotto should be quite moist.

4. Add the butter and Parmigiano, mix quickly and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Not very photogenic but every bite elicited a very loud "OMG!" from Alan

Voort’s Classic Rhubarb Custard

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup sugar (i actually replace this with 1 to 1 1/4 cup maple syrup.  I actually replace everything with maple syrup…)

1 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

1/4 Orange juice (if using maple, just leave this out – or replace with any other juice you have!) [I used maple and didn't add orange juice]

beat eggs, then stir in remaining ingredients one at a time

fill pie shell with cut up rhubarb (2-4 cups, depending on the size of your pie plate), then pour custard mixture over top. (you can add any other fruits in here as well – try strawberries, sour cherries – basically any berries you still have in your freezer…amazing) [I added strawberries; about two cups of each]

(my favourite pastry is butter pastry – can you go wrong with butter? – 1 1/2 cups flour (I’ve used the red fife, all purpose, spelt and buckwheat here – all good!), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 lb cold butter, 3-5 tbsp ice water – mix flour & salt, cut in butter, add ice water until it’s a ball.  refrigerating for a few minutes really helps the roll-out.  makes 1 shell) [I used spelt; wasn't sure it was going to turn out but it was a very nice, flaky pie shell]

bake at 4oo degrees for 15-20 minutes, then reduce temp to 375 and bake 30-40 minutes more or until custard is set.

let it cool until you can put it in your mouth without burning yourself…

Crumble:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, chopped in small pieces
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I didn’t have any, but it would had been nice)

Fruit filling

• 3 cups chopped rhubarb
• 3 cups chopped strawberries
• juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp cornstarch

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400F (200C)
2. Mix the fruits, 1/4 cup sugar, maple syrup, cornstarch, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a large baking dish
3. For the topping, mix all ingredients with your hands until you get a coarse crumble.
4. Pour over the fruit and bake for 40-45 mins until crumble is browned and fruit is bubbly. Serve with vanilla ice-cream.

For lunch I decided to try my hand at a quiche. After perusing four different books and two blogs, I made up my own recipe. Before making the filling, however, I made Clotilde’s Olive Oil Crust. While the crust cooled in the fridge and then baked in the oven, I prepared the filling below:

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup cream
• 1 cup Gruyère cheese
• 2 eggs
• about 5 oz fresh spinach
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 small onions
• pinch nutmeg
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Wash the spinach well and chop the onions
2. Heat a 10″ skillet (I use cast iron) and cook the onions in the olive oil until soft and light golden
3. Meanwhile, chop up the spinach and add to the onion when it’s soft enough, folding it in until it begins to wilt. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Once the spinach is almost all wilted, transfer to a colander and let drain from excess liquid. Let it cool.
4. Mix cream and eggs until well blended and smooth, add cheese, a pinch of nutmeg (about 1/8 tsp) and mix in the spinach mixture.

Bake in a pie shell in 400 F (200 C) for about 35-40 mins. We had it for lunch with a nice green salad garnished with grapefruit and balsamic vinaigrette.

Fiddleheads stir fried in butter with wild leeks and green onions, garlic, and tossed with cheese tortellini and some good parmigiano.

I picked up my share from KEG this afternoon and in it I got carrots, potatoes, sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes), lentil sprouts (from 5 different kinds of lentils!), lettuce, salad greens, wild leeks, and green onions. With my share, I also get a $20 credit that I can use to buy anything else from the table. I chose eggs from an Amish farm, sausages, and blueberry jam. So tonight for dinner we had bangers and mash and nearly everything on that plate was from my share: I roasted two of the sausages in the oven sprinkled with some of the wild leek and green onions. I made some nice and fluffy mashed potatoes with this week’s potatoes and served it all alongside a very colourful if simple salad of lettuce, lentil sprouts and grapefruit. Link here to pictures of my shares.

Ingredients

1 large can of San Marzano tomatoes

5 tbsp unsalted butter

1 large onion, cut in half

that’s it!

Add all three ingredients to a heavy sauce pan and let it simmer for at least 45 minutes. I probably let it simmer on low for more than an hour as I set the water to boil to cook the past late in the process. Stir once in a while, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pan. This sauce was incredible fragrant. Once it is ready, discard the onions (I saved it for some future use) and serve over spaghetti. You may want to test for salt; I found the flavours so pronounced that I hardly needed any salt. I also followed Smitten Kitchen’s advise and skipped the parmesan cheese on this one. We moaned at every bite. Was it the world’s best tomato sauce? I don’t know but the flavours were certainly indescribable.

*If you ever need to make anything that calls for canned tomatoes, look for San Marzano. The difference is astounding.