Crabapple jelly

 

The finished product.

The raw materials being cleaned.

Raw materials being picked.

The whimsical garden in which the crabapples were gathered.

Peach Crisp...using seasonal fruit

This is another recipe from my sister Sylvia. She used some of this year's canned peaches, but nothing beats fresh peaches in a crisp.  If using fresh, I would suggest 8 peeled and sliced peaches for this, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, cinnamon (or ginger), and a tablespoon of flour for the filling.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 or 2 pints sliced peaches in light syrup 
• 1 tsp cinnamon or ground ginger

For the topping:

• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3 cups oatmeal

Methods: 

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Pour peaches and juice into a baking pan. Sprinkle with the cinnamon or ginger. Combine the butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 cup flour and 3 cups oatmeal in a bowl then spoon the topping over the fruit. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden and juices are bubbling.

Summer Harvest Vegetable Stew

My sister Sylvia generates great recipes. Here is her take on vegetable stew. 

"Use whatever you have that is in season. Peas, zucchini, corn, peppers. This was just what I had at the cottage and I really craved a vegetable-based meal. All of the vegetables are from our local farm market, Juicy Fruit, at the lake."

Ingredients:

• 1 large Onion
• 2 stalks Celery 
• 1 large Carrot
• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 cup Green beans 
• 2 small Beets
• I cup yellow grape tomatoes 
• 2 cups broth
• 2 cups cooked Romano beans
• 1 Tbsp hot chili sauce
• 1 Tsp Worcestershire 
• salt and pepper to taste
• Nub of Parmesan rind (remove before serving)

Methods:

Chop these vegetables into bite-sized pieces.Saute the onion in a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.

Simmer all of the vegetables in the broth in a large covered pot, 30-40 minutes

Let the stew sit a few minutes to thicken before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs if you have some. Serve with crusty bread.

 

Smoked Salmon App

This is so easy peasy, I can't really call it a recipe. All it takes is a few slices of chewy dark rye bread spread with some cream cheese. Top these with some high quality smoked salmon and a 'grind' or two of black pepper.  If you happen to have a bottle of capers, strew a few on the serving platter along with some wedges of lemon.

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

 My sister Penelope makes a great chocolate zucchini loaf. And here it is.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup margarine (I used butter)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups grated zucchini (peeled and seeded before grating)
• 6 ounces chocolate chips

Methods:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans and/or line them with parchment paper.

Cream the margarine and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk and vanilla. Fold in shredded zucchini and chocolate chips. Pour into the two loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour. The loaves will be moist - that's OK.

Thousand Island Dressing

Postcards, along with several other forms of communication from times past, are becoming obsolete. They are sometimes very hard to find, but I managed to procure this gem while vacationing in the Thousand Islands. When in Rome.....

Salmon Salad Nicoise

We are a food-loving family. 

My niece Jessie posted her recipe for a Salmon Salad Nicoise on Instagram. It's colourful, healthful and delicious. Her recipe was simple..... steam fresh local green beans, and plate them with some sliced boiled eggs, crumbled blue cheese, a few black olives, some baby tomatoes, and a hearty filet of broiled salmon on a bed of arugula. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and season with ground pepper and sea salt.

Ontario Produce - Jersey Wakefield Cabbage

Looks like something from Peter Rabbit's garden.

Ontario Produce - Corn

Lemon Tarts

These are an easy peasy tart to make. The trick is to buy a nice bottle of (usually British-made) lemon curd. 

There is nothing to making these tea-time tarts. I rolled out some pastry I had in the refrigerator, (used the Crisco package recipe), but frozen ready-made tart shells from the grocery store work just as well. Fill the tarts with a spoonful of bottled lemon curd and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes, or until the filling bubbling and the pastry is done.

Savoury Cheesecake

This savoury cheesecake recipe was developed by a woman by the name of Betty Hedon and won a Philadelphia Cream Cheese recipe contest. It is enormous, so probably best not to make it unless you are feeding a very large group of people.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 8 ounces of mushrooms chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 4 ( 250 gram) packages of cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Methods:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Place a large pan of hot water on the bottom oven shelf.

Heat oil in a large non-stick pan and sauté the mushrooms and garlic.

Beat the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Stir in the mushroom mixture until blended. Pour into a greased 9 inch springform pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until the centre is almost set.

Refrigerate overnight. Remove from the pan.

Strawberry Ginger Icebox Cake from the New York Times

Many people who grew up in the 60's experienced a refrigerated 'cake' made with whipped cream and chocolate wafers. This strawberry cake is a riff on that. In my view, the cake my mother made in the 60's was better, and much less expensive.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound strawberries
• 12 ounces/ 340 grams mascarpone
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1&1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
• 32 ginger snaps
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Methods:

Set aside half the strawberries to use when serving this dessert. Hull the remaining berries and purée them. You are then supposed to strain them, (I didn't), ending with about 2/3 cup of purée.

With an electric mixer, whisk together the strawberry purée, mascarpone, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, lime zest and juice. Add more confectioners’ sugar as necessary. Whip to medium stiff peaks.

Basically you then have to layer the cookies and cream on a serving platter. Use 2 rows of 4 cookies for a total of 8 per layer, or whatever works. The recipe suggest a total of 4 layers of 8 cookies per layer.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.

Before serving hull the remaining berries , quarter them and toss with the granulated sugar and some lime zest. Use these to decorate your ‘cake’