Gin, Tonic and Cucumber

I had lunch with my former boss last week and he was discussing his wheat intolerance and how many of the gluten free beers available on the market are not that enjoyable and that his newest summer 'dock' drink is gin and tonic with cucumber.

It just so happens that I am a Gin girl. If there is a drink I am going to have on a hot summer day or cold's winters day, if I am being honest - it would be Gin and Tonic. And I have ALWAYS drank it with lime. So when Gary mentioned cucumber I knew I had to give it a try.

Lucky for me, this little baby was sitting outside in my garden just waiting for me.

There are no special instructions to this drink. It is as simple to make as it sounds, however if you are patient and it is not an emergency situation, ie. you haven't had a simply horrible day at work and the only thing that will keep you going is a Gin and Tonic and you need it NOW, you may want to try one simple thing.

Wash you cucumber and then finely slice it, but do not peel. Place 3-4 slices in your glass and pour the shot of gin on top and let it sit for at least 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes are up, add ice and your tonic. I personally prefer Diet Tonic, not because I am counting caleries or anything but because it is not as sweet and allows the flavour of the gin to have some presence.

And then you simply enjoy it. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cheers!

Happy Anniversary to The Depanneur

I first became acquainted with The Depanneur (or ‘The Dep’ as it has become to be known) this past winter when my husband and I signed up to become a member of The Rusholme Park Supper Club (Family Style dinner parties hosted by a rotating cast of chefs) and joined them for an evening with the Pork Ninja’s. It was an intimate gathering of food lover’s; amazing food was consumed and the Pork Ninja’s have since become Thursday night regulars. If you have never tasted their delicious competition grade BBQ pulled pork you have no idea what you are missing. But Pork Ninja’s aside, if you have never been to The Depanneur you really need to change that. They have been awarded with the 2012 Award for ‘Spicy New Venture’ by Food Forward and have really created something new and exciting for our fair city. You can drop in for dinner and try food from all over the world, prepared by some of the city’s best kept secrets. They serve it up from 6pm until the food sells out. Plus they have commercial kitchen space that they rent out to food entrepreneurs such as myself. Overall just an amazing concept and the food served never fails to delight.

It is for this and many more reasons, that I am so excited to blog about the fact that Manning Canning is partnering with The Dep to offer its customers a series of preserving classing in September and October. If you have ever wanted to learn how to preserve the freshness of all of those amazing summer fruits and vegetables so that you can enjoy summer even in winter, well now is your chance! Over a series of 4 classes, I will walk participants through safe canning practices and basics of making jam and pickles and preserving fruit. All students will take home one jar of the product made in class that day, along with a print out of the recipe and be armed with the knowledge required to can safely at home.

The classes run from 6:30pm-9:30pm on the dates outlined below and take place at The Dep, which is located at 1033a College Street. To register for the classes, just click right here.

SEPT 12 - CLASS 1 – Fresh Pears with Ginger

In the first class of the series we will cover the basics principles of safe canning and as a group work together to preserve Pears with Ginger

SEPT 26 - CLASS 2 – Tomato Jam

There is more to tomatoes than tomato sauce. Learn how to turn tomatoes into a delicious tomato jam that can be used as a spread in sandwiches, as a substitute for ketchup or as an accompaniment to a delicious cheese plate

OCT 10 - CLASS 3 – Getting Pickled 

Pickled Carrots and Pickled Cauliflower. We will explore how different combinations of vinegar and spices can drastically change the flavour of what you pickle

OCT 24 - CLASS 4 – Canning with Wine or Beer 

The addition or beer or wine to your canning recipe can have some pretty fabulous results and in this class we will explore their benefits in preserving

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Workshops are $40+HST each and includes a jar of whatever is made.

Attend all 4 Preserving Workshops and save $20!

4 Workshops for $140+HST

I look forward to passing on my love of preserving with everyone in the class and hope to see you soon!

Beer Jam

When you think Beer and then you think Jam what other ingredients come to mind? First of all, there are all of the different types of beer to consider; lager, al, wheat beer, stout, etc. And then once you have settled on a beer what goes with it?

I should ask my friends at Peerless Beers as I have had the pleasure of tasting many a fine beer in their company and under their guidance.

But my creative juices are flowing and there is simply no time for such counsel ;). Yesterday, James and I were out in the garden picking all of the ripe tomatoes that we have on our plants in the backyard. (btw...it has been a busy morning as those are already cut up and on the stove being turned into Spicy Tomato Jam for our personal stock) and I noticed that my rhubarb has exploded once again. I was thinking about this new bounty of rhubarb last night and wondering if I should make more Rhubarb Vanilla Jam, when suddenly Rhubarb and Beer were together side by side in my mind.

Rhubarb Beer Jam. I even like the sounds of it. I am thinking that it would go nicely with a wheat beer...what do you think?

To be honest, it was not where I was going originally when I started to think of Beer Jam. I was thinking of something heavier, kinda syrupy. And that may still happen. But I have been side-tracked and now I need to know if I am onto something good.

Stay tuned....

A Garden in Bloom - Cucumbers

This is my first year with what I would call a 'real' vegetable garden. Last year what we had in our backyard qualified as more of a 'patch' than a garden, but this year, we went nuts and I would say we are officially gardeners. We have 21 tomato plants that are bursting with cherry, plum and beefsteak tomatoes, there is rocket, arugula and spinach, mint, basil and sage, carrots, turnips, parsnips, green beans, peas and last but not least (and this totally feels like the academy awards and like I am forgetting an ever important vegetable growing in my garden) cucumber.

One would think that for someone like me who likes to pickle or preserve almost everything, that I would have chosen to plant mini cucumbers so that I could make pickles. Wrong! I chose to grow regular full size cucumbers and last night we harvested our very first full size cucumber and I made a traditional tomato bread salad with plum tomatoes, basil, cucumber, chick peas, crouton and a dijon balsamic vinagrette. But before I made the salad I need to taste the cucumber on it's own. One wouldn't think there would be much difference between the store bought cucumber and the garden grown (completely pesticide free) cucumber but there is. I can't even put it into words, but it just tastes like summer!

So now that we have a small plot of cucumbers growing I have been searching for interesting recipes where I can put this bounty to good use and I came across this simple yet very delicious sounding recipe where the cucumber still plays a pretty major role and I think I now know what I will be making with cucumber number 2 once it is ready to harvest.

It is on a site that I peruse on a regular basis - Tasty Kitchen as it has a good rating system, different contributors and a great selection.

If I ever have time to have people over for dinner before the snow flies, you may expect this as an appetizer :)

What do you get when you mix 3lbs of bacon, coffee and maple syrup together?

It all started with an innocent suggestion from my friend Sue on my facebook page when she asked me if I could make her some bacon jam. It was a simple comment but it started the gears in my mind to turn and then Chef Cheryl from the Meat Department on the Danforth offered me free bacon to experiment with and it was 'Game Over'.

I had bought some bacon jam in the winter and even though I LOOOOVE bacon, I found the flavour too bacon-y and perhaps lacking in complexity. So this weekend after picking up 5lbs of free bacon (and I promise I will only mention them one more time here) from The Meat Dept on the Danforth it was time to do a little research online to see what people were saying and doing when they made Bacon Jam. Some were adding tomato which sounded interesting while others were sticking to garlic and onion and then there were still others who were dancing with maple syrup.

What to do? What to do?

So this morning, I got down with my bad self in my kitchen and started to experiment. Bacon, onions, garlic, brown sugar, some very strong coffee, some maple syrup and a touch of vinegar all magically combined in my cast iron frying pan and turned my house into a mouth watering sensation. Even now several hours after the fact, my kitchen smells so good that my mouth waters when I enter it.

I now have 5 jars of bacon goodness sitting in my fridge and tomorrow I believe that I will go into the backyard and pick some ripe tomatoes from my garden and I will toast a little white bread, spread some bacon jam on there and then slice some fresh tomatoes on top and call it heaven.

Care to come for dinner?

Later this week, I will be swinging by and paying the good people at The Meat Dept a visit with 4 jars of bacon jam so they can do a little taste test and tell me what they think. I will share the verdict once I hear.