vanderb

Quote - Are morrels in season now? I thought they were MArch/April time? End Quote - It could be it was a reused sign, I'm by no means an expert on mushroom season... my ignorance becomes more obvious every day.

Last night was a bit of cheat due to tiredness... grilled cheese w/ naramata bench blue cheese and smoked turkey; to accompany a packaged cream of vegetable soup I won't buy again. The grilled cheese were definately worth it though. Tonight, bbq'd coho salmon in a quick EVOO, lemon zest, lemon juice and chilli marinade with jasmine rice and a fresh tomato salad. I took the salmon out of the freezer before heading into the cubicle of shame for the day, that's the only reason this is known before hand.

I can only hope, it's been 10 years since my last rural AB wedding (the Legion in Edson that time - roast turkey and canned corn on the menu, Domaine D'or in the bottle) my memories are not too pleasant... need I say more?

We managed to fit 4 cases in the New Beetle on the way home from the OK wine fest last weekend, but that was only because we had lugage and all the camping gear required for a week living in a tent. Last 3 outings or innings were: Rocky Mountain Food and Wine festival in Calgary, lots of great wine... in fact more wineries (Canadian and international) than in almost any year past. This was a nice change from last year's increase in "novelty" liquor vendors. Food was also excellent, I had many a fresh oyster from Cannery Row (flown in that day from BC), butter chicken from Sunterra Market, satay skewers from Tropika, and then it all becomes a haze. Did manage to stop on the way home for shrimp salad rolls, stuffed lalot leaves and imperial rolls at the local Touch of Ginger. Sunday was Piato in Calgary, great nuvo Greek restaurant. I've never been disappointed by either the food or the service. Started with marinated lamb meatballs in a tomato feta sauce, then grilled venision tenderloin with skordalia (potato and parsnip) and accompanied with a bowl of grilled asparagus with greek pesto on top. Great Greek place but not your standard fare, no souvlaki and no plate breaking but excellent nonetheless. Last night ordered in because I was just too tired to do anything else. Shantung chinese from around the corner was on order. Fried dumplings, salt and pepper squid, satay beef with Gai Lan and some Singapore noodles rounded things out. I was saited and have a few leftovers for lunch today. This weekend... a wedding in a rural Alberta community hall... this could be scarey.

Friday night - Turkish kofte (spiced lamb meat balls) grilled on the bbq with an assortment of bbq wok'd vegetables (potato, mushrooms, onion and garlic). Saturday night - Italian sausage ragu (of course it was homemade), lots of hot peppers both dried and fresh and some of the last of the fresh herbs I'm likely to see out of the garden (err window box) this year. Monday night - big ass salad, garden tomatoes, spinich, fresh hazel nuts (from a trip west 2 weeks ago), onion, boiled egg, tuna and feta cheese. Homemade EVOO, balsamic, bavarian mustard and habanero sauce dressing to accompany. That's all for now, back to work.

Just got back from Wine Fest in the Okanagan, had some very nice lunches out and two dinners (1 was liquid). The rest of the time we cooked for ourselves so we could afford to bring some wine home. Grey Monk for lunch, had the "picker's lunch", excellent sandwich with great bread (ciabatta I think) and proscuitto and a glass of the Latitude 50 red. Summerhill winery for lunch - tried Summerhill's version of the "picker's lunch" but was greatly disappointed. The bread was flabby and the turkey obviously from a log. I noted the restaurant is now a concession (may have been for a while as it's been a couple of years since I was last there). It's the same company that runs restaurants in Best Western's in BC (Forresters Group?). This has not been an improvement for Summerhill, they used to have one of the best lunch menus around and now it's not even mediocore. I understand they probably want to focus on their wine (and tour bus style tastings) but I really enjoyed the food in the past and was sorely disappointed by this change. The glass of the Cab Franc was very good though. Stopped by Carmelis for a goat cheese tasting (down the road from Cedar Creek winery). Arne was right this place is goat cheese heaven and it cost me $50 to get out the door, I could have spent a lot more. I'll be ordering on-line later on. Sumac Ridge winery for lunch - started with warm goat cheese on multi veg homemade chips (beet, yam and potato) and it was excellent, not a single chip survived. Then the fresh fettucini with lamb sausage, this is a smoking dish and I have to confess I've had it before. The Cab Franc here was also excellent. Naramata Inn bistro patio for dinner - it was a light dinner starting with their tomato and boccancini salad. I wouldn't normally order this outside of southern Italy but they promised heirloom tomatoes and I saw the garden on the way in! It was the best I've had outside of Amalfi, but the boccancini could have been more flavourful... I'll let it go because the tomatoes were phenomenal. For the main we shared a hearth bread with proscuitto and a walnut/lentil puree. I'm a big fan of the hearth breads with a selection of toppings/dips. Dinner was great and the bottle of Lang Vineyards Pinot Meunier was excellent. Poplar Grove Winery and Cheesery - Arne also stopped by here and raved about their Tiger Blue and although I'm not a fan of blue cheeses their Naramata Bench blue is killer. It's a very light blue with more of a camembert consistancy to the body of the cheese with the blue only on the rind. This cheesery cost me another $50 but we made off with 2 rounds of the Bench blue, 1 of the Tiger, 1 of the camembert and 1 of the new washed rind cheese. All great, not my first visit for cheese at Poplar Grove and not my last either. Penticton Silver Anniversary tasting - not much food here a little bread, cheese and pate but the wine... oh the wine. 40 different wineries were there providing tastings. We hit the smaller ones first and burned out the taste buds. After that it was tasting for fun but not so much for education. It really would have been nice if there was more food and if the after-event "free" taxis had worked out, but Penticton taxi companies were not prepared for this many people. Sushi House (Banff, on the way home) - great place for "little plates". Sushi comes around on a train and you take what you want, or ask the chef for something special. I really wanted Miki that night but it was full with a private party This weekend in Calgary is the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine festival, I'll be there Friday evening nice and early to avoid the line ups. Not a cheap evening but a really good opportunity to try out new (or new to me) restaurants as well as more international wines and spirits. I'll hopefully have a small write up on Monday.

I drove through Nakusp (Central Kootenays) last week and mushroom harvest was in full swing. There were numerous buyers there with signs up looking for Pine (Enoki) mushrooms, Morrels and others. This is the 2nd year I've been in the area during harvest time but I have yet to figure out how I, as a non-commercial buyer, could possibly buy some of the mushrooms. I've tried to ask locals but they all seem pretty closed mouthed about it. I've been told to stop where the pickers are parked on highway 6 and buy from them, but it's kind of hard to tell the picker trucks from the rest of the trucks on the highway... so I've never been successful with this. I even stopped at the Mushroom Addition restaurant in Fauquier to ask where I could buy and received blank stares and questions why I would want to. I'll be at the Calgary Farmer's market this weekend trying to find a source.... I need mushroom soup!

/Quote That sounds like my paternal grandmother, who was Lithuanian (she passed away a few years ago). She had all kinds of superstitions like that. Whenever she gave me something like a kitchen knife or a pair of quilting scissors, but made me give her a nickel so it wasn't a gift but a "sale". She told me that giving sharp objects as gift to a loved one would cut your love. /Quote In Canada (maybe only Western Canada) if you give knives or other sharp items as a wedding present you need to tape money to the knives or scissors. This cancels out the bad luck of giving a weapon to a newly married couple. I'm not sure which of our many mixed cultures brought this to us but I would guess English, Welsh, Scotish or German as I've seen people of those decents do this.

Been a few days since I've had some time to post, so here goes... Friday night, split pea soup with ham. Home made (sort of) from a package of organic ingredients put together at the local farmers market. Slow cooked for 4 hours on the stove, with some cubed ham added for the last hour. I don't make this too often, this time I used 2 cups of nice chicken stock in place of 2 of the 10 cups of water. This definately added body to the soup. Saturday night, braised lamb shanks and riced purple potatoes. The lamb shanks were browned first, then added to a mix of sauteed onion, garlic, mushrooms, EVOO, good italian pasata, thyme, rosemary, pinot noir (1 cup) and a little water. This was moved to a slow (280F) oven for 5 hours. Shanks were melt in your mouth, the sauce too good to waste and the riced purple potatoes added great texture, but the colour combo did not work very well (menopausal purple potatoes and a red sauce - Grandma would be proud). Sunday night, picked up a nice piece of halibut (not a common occurance in land locked Calgary) and decided to do it baked in parchment paper. Put down a layer of aromatics inlucding sliced garlic, ginger, lemon slices, onion, cilantro stems, fresh thyme, fresh mint, fresh oregano, salt, pepper and EVOO. Baked in the oven for 25 minutes and served it with a nice tomato salad and jasmine rice. The SO and I were quite happy with this, it could have been photographed but my tummy won over my eyes and camera. Last night way too tired to cook, stopped off for a quickie Vietnamese dinner including shrip salad rolls and a nice Bun dish.

Last year we attended the Villa Rosa/Red Rooster dinner in Penticton and were a little disappointed. The dinner itself was not bad but I was disappointed with the availability of the wines. They seemed to be short pours and the ability to pay for more seemed impossible. Last year I also tried to get tickets to the Burrowing Owl dinner at the Naramata Inn but were a little late in the game. This year, because last year's dinner wasn't ideal, we're going to be at the Silver Anniversary Tasting event in Penticton. I'll drop a note with how it goes, and perhaps a photo or two of our adventures.

Daddy-A, the SO and I have been going to Naramata every year for the past 8, since we stumbled upon it by accident. If you are looking for one of the cheesy motels in the future I would recommend the Village Motel (http://www.villagemotel.com) run by Shirley and Ulrich. They're nice folk who like to gossip but their motel is fully equiped, kitchens if you want them, but if not fridges in the smaller rooms, complimentary bbq's and a picnic table to eat at. We'll be there for the last week of Fall Wine Fest and I intend to pack the Beetle as high as I can with booty from the OK valley. For me this includes the Poplar Grove - Naramata Bench Blue, which is a milder version of the Tiger Blue, not sure if you tried it. I'm not a big Blue fan, but the Bench Blue is the only one I've ever truly enjoyed. Their wine isn't bad either. You've refreshed my memory so well on why we go there every year that I cannot wait to get there for the festival this year. We'll be driving out from Calgary and will be stopping in the West Kootenays to try and buy bulk mushrooms (chantrelle, enoki/pine - not the kind others might be thinking of ) on our way through. This will allow for some killer meals when we get to Naramata and picking the wines to go with them will be such a chore .

If the stats are correct I think it's a marvellous number for BC, and I hope sometime that stat could show consumption of wine based on country/region of production. I'd like to know how much of that wine being consumed in BC is BC produced. In Alberta it is patently obvious wine is not on the minds of many folks and the liquor stores demonstrate that daily. Even at a large food/wine/spirits event such as the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival there are rarely line ups at the wine booths, where as the beer/spirit booths can be a few people deep. I would really like to see more emphasis here in Alberta by the (ALCB - liquor control board) on fairly pricing BC and Ontario wines so we can get a greater exposure to them here. Albertans are all about price and if prices on BC wines were brought in line here there would likely be higher consumption. Case in point down the street Township 7 Cab Sauv, is $28/bottle, good wine but that price is outrageous. My two bits.

Sunday dinner, bbq'd buffalo ribeyes (medium rare - of course), marinated for 24 hours in garlic, EVOO, chili flakes, salt, peper, lemon zest and lemon juice. To accompany peaches and cream corn on the cob, and bbq roasted banana potatoes tossed in EVOO with whole garlic cloves, sliced purple onion, and button mushrooms. Great bbq dinner with very little clean up required. Tonight... Bon Ton meat pies (name brand for those in Calgary, AB) and a simple side salad heavy on the good tomotoes and feta.

Huckleberries are also available (or were around August long weekend) in the central Kootenays, most specifically the Slocan Valley. A great deal of the Kootenay's is classed as rainforest and has more than a few old rotting stumps around. Unless they are brought in specially you won't find any in Osoyoos.

Sunday night bbq'd ribeyes (beef) from the local butcher, brushed with EVOO, chili flakes, salt and pepper. SO made a very nice potato salad using italian pancetta (including rendered fat), baby white potatoes, whole grain mustard, mustard powder, mayo, pickle juice, fresh herbs from the garden (ok window box), salt and pepper. Ribeyes melted in the mouth, the potato salad was still warm and the Tinhorn Creek Cab Franc was just about perfect... too bad the weather wasn't nicer. Last night in preperation for fall it was lamb madras slow cooked on the stove for about 4 hours then served with a not so good packaged naan bread. Too many spices to mention for the madras, but the other main ingredients were lamb sirloin steaks cubed, onion, garlic, ginger, lemon zest, lemon juice, lime zest, lime juice, kafir lime leaves, tomato paste, 1 cup of water and just before serving 1 small pot of plain yogurt. This is almost the last of the half spring lamb in the freezer. All that remains is 1 shank, 1 package of ground lamb and a monster shoulder roast. Good thing the fall lamb should be ready in a a month and a half.

gourmande, thanks for the toon, Herman has always been a giggle. My avatar was taken by my brother in Laos. He had aspirations of professional photography till he found out he couldn't make a living at it. Dinner Tuesday night, orricetta (sp) pasta (the earlobe shaped ones), tossed in well browned pancetta with EVOO, garlic, red chili, anchovy fillets, black pepper, artichoke hearts, pine nuts and a little pasta water. Served this up with an extra splash of EVOO and parmigano. I wanted to take a photo but my SO said it was weird and I shouldn't "get into that sort of thing". I'm going to have to start clanedestine food photography if I'm ever to get anything up here.

Zucchini Mama, I too have heard many good things from freinds about Infusion in Bragg Creek but we don't get out to the Elbow Valley too often. We're either in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park (not too many dinning out choices), or on our way to the Revelstoke area. BTW if you are passing by Field, BC on your way anywhere east or west bound stop at Truffle Pigs Bistro. They are making some incredible food in the high Rockies. On a summer's eve you can sit on the patio sipping fine Okanagan wine, observing the staggering view of Kickinghorse Pass, while they BBQ a beautiful bison ribeye for you. Some of the best meals of my short life have been up there. With regard to spit roasting bison over the campfire... I do make a campfire bison meatloaf and it's darn tastey. I'll consider spit roasting the bison but only if I have a protective bear proof fence and a supply of hardwood to do the job right I should make more of an effort to get to Infusion, I'll add it to my calendar.

Finally able to eat out again after 2 weeks fighting viruses for customers. I won't regale anyone with tales of vending machines and crap takeout as it is too depressing. Saturday night, Canmore, Alberta - Quarry Bistro. I've heard a fair bit of hype over both Quarry and Crazyweed but on Saturday we were only able to get on the patio at Quarry so there we stayed. Had a very memorable meal with friends... started with seared sea scallops with spinach, carrot and pickled onion slaw and homemade pickled ginger. Excellent dish wish I hadn't shared with my SO. Followed this with a very nice buffalo burger on ciabatta bun with a side of yam and potato fries. This was accompanied by my latest favorite find, Vinho Verde. This Portuguese wine is excellent, very young, fresh, low in alcohol and with a small amount of champagne like bubbles. This can be consumed all night on the right patio. Lunch today, Viet sub from Thi Thi... can't go wrong with the combo super sub (sate chicken and beef) with all the veggies, cilantro and birds eye chilies. This weekend we're off to the mountains for camping in Kananaskis. There will be cold Japanese soba noodle salad w/ tuna, campfire vegetable soup and likely a night of spicy tofu dogs. There may even be a beer or two consumed in honour of Labour day.

After fighting the zotob virus for the past 2 weeks and eating crap take out or pre-packaged foods I've finally had a chance to throw together a couple of dinners. Friday night, grilled marinated (EVOO, salt and pepper) lamb sirloin cut steaks, homemade mint sauce, tomato green bean salad (turkish style), and jasmine rice cooked with sauteed purple onion, garlic, ginger and finely chopped mushrooms. Saturday night dinner out in Canmore, AB. Sunday night, left over black bean soup (made by SO earlier last week) and rice from Friday night. Monday night home made pizza with anchovy/garlic tomato sauce, proscuito di parma, mushrooms and some very nice mozzerella from the Italian deli down the street.

Ghetto meal from my poor backpacker days in the UK... 2 pence can of Tesco brown beans in tomato sauce, on top of toasted white bread and if there was money for it or I happened to find a free packet of French's mustard to put on top... well that was heaven. I can barely look at expensive beans in tomato sauce now much less the really really cheap variety. Now that I'm home in Canada it's Kraft Dinner all the way when slumming it, gotta have Frank's hot sauce on it.

Monday night currently in the oven, lamb and spicy italian sausage meatballs with baked with ziti in a marinara sauce. Ground lamb and homemade (italian deli up the street) italian sausage emptied from it's casing, mixed with one egg, bread crumbs, black pepper, salt, garlic, rosemary and thyme formed into medium sized meatballs and browned in a very small amount of EVOO. Marinara sauce has one small purple onion diced, 8 cloves of garlic minced fine, 3 anchovy fillets, half a pound of crimini mushrooms and the fat from frying off the meatballs. Cook the mixture until onions are translucent add a little red wine to deglaze, some pasta water from the ziti, 2 whole dried pepperoncino and a large jar of pasata. Mix it all together bring it up to a low boil, add the cooked ziti and toss then add the meatballs and throw in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Cheese is optional but not in my house, therefore a mixture of mozzerella and parmigano is layered on top to brown. Served with a nice Nero D'Avola from Sicily. I should start taking photos like all the other folks out there.

Saturday night dinner, fresh salmon marinated in lime juice, rice wine vinegar, grape seed oil, fish sauce, chilli sauce, ginger and garlic then BBQ'd. Caesar sald with home made dressing and cherries for dessert. Sunday night, organic free range chicken (whole) with a lemon (cut in half), bouquet garnis (thyme, mint, dill and oregano) and a head of garlic inside the cavity, then EVOO, salt and pepper on the skin. Surounded the whole thing with a few quartered potatoes a little more EVOO and then baked at 450 degrees for 1 hour 20 mins. Served with steamed whole artichoke. Sunday dinner's should all be this good.

Calgary - lunch with my father on Monday @ Sushi Hiro, nigiri sushi selection including special scallop, maguro, sake, ebi then 2 rolls, inside out california & salmon skin. Dinner on Wednesday @ Touch of Ginger in Kensington, bun noodle w/ imperial roll & shrimp deep fried in a wrapper. Oh yeah shrimp salad rolls to start (can't live without these). Last night after a few glasses of petite syrah @ Buchanan's there was a medium rare steak sandwich with caesar salad & pomme frittes @ Original Joe's in Kensington. Not the most adventurous week but still a tastey one.

Last night Asian inspired chicken noodle soup (garlic tops, lots of ginger, baby bok chois, soy sauce, seasame oil, lime zest, lime juice, kafir lime leaves, and red rice wine vinegar are the additions to take it from standard to great) with a demi baguette from the bakery down the street. Happy happy me.

I spend quite a bit of time car camping in the Rockies (Alberta and BC), nice big tent, air mattress, all the necessities. Some of my campfire favourites are home made veggie soup with orzo (or if time barley) made in my campfire stock pot. Campfire din-din which uses ultra low-fat meat so as not to attract too many bears, I prefer ground buffalo, elk or ostrich mixed with black beans, onion, small amount of galic and ginger, hot pepper sauce and fresh herbs then wrapped in foil and patted firm and cooked over the fire. To go with the din-din I like to take crimini mushroom slice them thick, layer them in tin foil, then on top a few layers of baby bok choi add some soy sauce and vinegar and steam them over the fire all wrapped up tight. A local store has cast iron dutch overs built specifically for the campfire, I'm very tempted to pick one up and experiment with stews while camping. But the long cooking times required and the thought of bears dropping by to checkout the slow cook has always prevented me from purchasing. Of course the great camping standard that cannot be missed is a sandwich (any fillings whatsoever) with dill pickle chips stuffed in with everything else that'll fit in a bun. Ah, I wish I was leaving today.